This week, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and his colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act, an unprecedented China policy package that invests in U.S. diplomacy, strengthens U.S. economic leadership that bolsters engagement, enhances transparency, and empowers American workers and small businesses, and holds our adversaries to account for their unacceptable violations of human rights.

“Partisan gridlock and dangerous complacency have hamstrung our economic development and damaged our standing on the world stage,” said Rep. Phillips. “But after years of inaction, the House of Representatives will finally consider bold legislation to revive our role as a global leader and safeguard American interests in the face of growing strategic competition with China. Strengthened by my amendments, the EAGLE Act is a sign that Congress – at long last – would rather lead than cede.”

The EAGLE Act included four amendments authored by Rep. Phillips that would bolster our national security and support U.S. foreign policy priorities in the face of an ascendent China, including:

• Phillips’s bipartisan Arctic Diplomacy Act, which would establish a U.S. Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs to work with partner nations and maintain peace and stability in the arctic region while encouraging environmentally sustainable natural resource management and economic development.
• An amendment that would require additional reporting on the illicit Chinese Fentanyl trade, especially as it relates to the distribution of dangerous counterfeit medicines and medical products in the United States.
• An amendment that emphasizes the importance of Chinese-language skills for our diplomatic corps and requires the State Department to create a plan to increase the number of Chinese-language speakers and translation specialists.
• An amendment that would modify the EAGLE Act’s Statement of Policy on Middle East and North Africa Engagement to make promoting greater regional integration and cooperation – particularly with Israel – a U.S. priority.

Phillips also endorsed a bipartisan effort championed by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R-TX) that would provide the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) with the flexibility needed to carry out its mission. The DFC is a critical tool necessary to support infrastructure and renewable energy development around the globe, as well as combat Chinese investment abroad.  

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