(The Center Square) – Several Republican lawmakers introduced legislation Monday that aims to remove retail companies owned or controlled by China, Russia, Iran or North Korea from U.S. military bases.
The bill’s patrons say that having retail companies like China-owned nutritional supplements store GNC on American military bases is a threat to national security. GNC used to be an American company but was wholly acquired by Harbin Pharmaceuticals, “a partially state-owned enterprise in China,” in June 2020 when it filed for bankruptcy, according to a news release.
“This is a really ripe target for intelligence gathering,” said Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-NC, who sponsored the Military Installation Retail Security Act in the House. “This is no joke about defending the integrity of our military, making sure that foreign adversaries who are actively seeking to undermine us don’t have the opportunity to do that from within our military bases.”
Harrigan said that owning GNC could give the Chinese access to the buying habits and sensitive health information of people on military bases.
The bill comes amidst a trade war between the U.S. and China and tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as Iran has been pursuing the development of its own nuclear weapons. Two congressional committees held a hearing last week where expert witnesses disparaged the influence the Chinese government has in the American economy. One of those committees is chaired by Sen. Rick Scott, R-FL, who sponsored the bill in the Senate.
“Allowing companies controlled by our biggest foreign adversaries – like Communist China, Russia, and North Korea – to operate on U.S. military bases is a completely unacceptable threat,” Scott said in a statement. “The Military Installation Retail Security Act will close the loopholes that allow these bad actors to gain footholds within our military communities.”
“This should be common sense, and I urge my colleagues to support its quick passage,” Scott added.