Virginia Legislature Tries Foreign Policy
Republicans are following Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s lead on playing foreign policy as rumors continue that Youngkin is considering a Presidential run. During Youngkin’s State of the Commonwealth address, he struck a tone against Chinese economic interests.
Republican legislators are attempting to codify these with legislation. After Youngkin issued an Executive Order banning TikTok and WeChat from state issued devices and wireless internet, Delegate Emily Brewer proposed HB 2385 to keep the ban into the state law. Currently that bill has passed the House of Delegates.
Youngkin also addressed the topic of foreign governments owning farmland, namely China. Delegate Robert Bloxom proposed HB 2325 to prohibit purchase of farmland from a foreign government until last week when the bill was changed to “foreign adversary” as defined by the Secretary of Commerce. That list is currently the countries China, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and Cuba.
On the Senate side, Republican Senators have also attempted trying to play foreign policy. Senator John Cosgrove proposed SB 857 to make it a felony to steal trade secrets for foreign governments. Likewise, SJ 286 from Senator Bryce Reeves to commend Hsiao Bi-khim, the Taiwan Ambassador to the U.S. who is not really an ambassador because of despites of Taiwan’s sovereignty. Reeves was shot down upon discovery that the Virgina Senate does not issue resolutions for non-citizens.
Not all foreign policy making is around China. Delegate John McGuire and Senator Jill Vogel have both sponsored legislation to prohibit Virginia from contracting with companies that engage in boycott against Israel. Lobbying to support the bill was Elan Carr who was the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism under President Donald Trump. Carr traveled to Richmond to support legislation that was conceived from Youngkin's Commission to Combat Anti-Semitism. In the past, Carr worked in the Trump administration to identify groups boycotting Israel and to liken them to “hatred to Jewish People.”
At a time when Youngkin is attempting to prevent China from expanding into Virginia, Virginia is also attempting to expand foreign investments from Israel companies. One example is the 120 acres of fish farming in Richland, Virginia made possible with help from the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board. VIAB is a government agency established to help Israeli companies build and grow their U.S. operations within Virginia. Their annual report shows a $5 billion dollar impact of Israel towards Virginia’s GDP.
To summarize: Chinese corporations in Virginia are heavily scrutinized while Israeli corporations are subsidized. That’s the foreign policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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