I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2978 

To require a report regarding the scope of efforts by the People’s Republic 

of China and Chinese Communist Party to utilize the Belt and Road 

Initiative to undermine the United States-led international world order 

and a detailed strategy regarding how the United States Government 

intends to counter such Initiative, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2021 

Mr. FITZGERALD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require a report regarding the scope of efforts by the 

People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist 

Party to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative to undermine the United States-led international world order and 

a detailed strategy regarding how the United States Government intends to counter such Initiative, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Build Responsible In3 frastructure Development for the Global Economy Act’’ or 

4 the ‘‘BRIDGE Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress makes the following findings: 

7 (1) The Chinese government’s Belt and Road 

8 Initiative (BRI), enshrined in the CCP’s constitu9 tion, is a comprehensive, long-term economic devel10 opment strategy founded by General Secretary and 

11 President Xi Jinping to link regions worldwide 

12 through multi-billion infrastructure projects. The 

13 CCP utilizes the BRI’s informal framework as a ve14 hicle to establish a Sinocentric world order based on 

15 its authoritarian model of governance. 

16 (2) The BRI poses immediate and long-term 

17 risks to the national security, economic security, and 

18 international influence of the United States and our 

19 partners by giving the PRC the ability to project 

20 power more widely in geostrategic regions such as 

21 the Indo-Pacific. The BRI, covering countries rep22 resenting over half of the world’s population and 

23 over one-third of global economic output, seeks to 

24 pull nations into Beijing’s geopolitical orbit. 

25 (3) Despite the BRI’s well-documented scope 

26 and consequences, the United States government has 


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1 never formalized an official view or strategy to 

2 counter its efforts. This puts our national security 

3 objectives at a severe disadvantage as Beijing seeks 

4 to leverage its regional inroads worldwide through 

5 the BRI and other PRC-alternative institutions to 

6 achieve global preeminence. 

7 (4) The United States should not underestimate 

8 the significance of the BRI and establish a coherent, 

9 government-wide strategy that effectively seeks to 

10 counter Beijing’s economic and political scope and 

11 influence through the BRI. 

12 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

13 It is the policy of the United States to counter efforts 

14 by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese 

15 Communist Party (CCP) to create an integrated economic 

16 and political order under its leadership, which continues 

17 to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and econ18 omy of the United States 

19 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Com22 merce, and the heads of other relevant Federal depart23 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con24 gressional committees a report that includes the following: 


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1 (1) Information relating to the scope of efforts 

2 by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Chi3 nese Communist Party (CCP) to utilize the Belt and 

4 Road Initiative (BRI) to undermine the United 

5 States-led international world order. 

6 (2) Information relating to the means and ob7 jectives of the PRC and the CCP in using the BRI 

8 as a vehicle to create a parallel order of alternative 

9 PRC-centric organizations. 

10 (3) An assessment of current United States 

11 Government tools and strategies to counter the BRI. 

12 (4) A detailed strategy regarding how the De13 partment of State, the United States Agency for 

14 International Development (USAID), and the De15 partment of Commerce intend to coordinate its re16 sources to counter the BRI. Such strategy shall in17 clude the following elements: 

18 (A) A description of interagency efforts to 

19 counter the BRI, together with recommenda20 tions on how to bolster the United States Gov21 ernment’s economic competition against China. 

22 (B) An assessment of past efforts by the 

23 United States Government to mitigate the ef24 fects of BRI, as well as the gaps in current 


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1 United States Government policy and imple2 mentation. 

3 (C) A timeline that holds the United 

4 States Government accountable in planning and 

5 executing such strategy. 

6 (D) A strategic roadmap that details how 

7 the United States Government will link such 

8 strategy to broader national security priorities 

9 and objectives, including the National Security 

10 Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. 

11 (E) A description that elaborates how the 

12 United States Government will align strategic 

13 planning and coordination with key allies and 

14 partners to effectively respond to the BRI, par15 ticularly in the Indo-Pacific. 

16 (b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than one 

17 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Com19 merce, and the heads of other relevant Federal depart20 ments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate con21 gressional committees a plan for implementing the strat22 egy described in subsection (a)(4), including the following: 

23 (1) A description of clearly defined program 

24 metrics, goals, targets, and planned outcomes for 

25 such strategy. 


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1 (2) A plan to monitor and evaluate such strat2 egy, and progress made toward achieving such goals, 

3 targets, and planned outcomes. 

4 (3) A plan to ensure such strategy is promoting 

5 United States foreign policy goals in the Indo-Pa6 cific by offering a positive vision for shared economic 

7 and infrastructure growth in a free and open inter8 national order. 

9 (c) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

10 shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include 

11 a classified annex if necessary. The unclassified portion 

12 of such report shall be made available on a publicly avail13 able internet website of the Federal Government. 

14 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

15 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con16 gressional committees’’ means— 

17 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

18 Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee 

19 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 

20 and 

21 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

22 Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee 

23 on Finance of the Senate. 

Æ 


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