WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tribune News Service) — House leadership has chosen Congressman Seth Moulton to be a part of the new House Select Committee on China.

Earlier this year, the House voted to create the committee on a bipartisan basis and will focus on “the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) economic, technological, and security priorities and ongoing competition with the United States,” according to a press release announcing Moulton’s selection.

Moulton previously led a Bipartisan Congressional Delegation to Taiwan, Guam, and the Philippines in October, and Co-Chaired the Bipartisan Future of Defense Task Force in 2020.

In a statement, he talked about diminishing the security threat posed by the CCP.

“President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party have made clear, in their words and their actions, that they want to replace the United States as the lone superpower and reshape the global order in favor of authoritarianism. And they have no qualms about over-running human rights, liberal values—or entire nations, like Taiwan—that lie in their path,” said Congressman Moulton.

“This makes the challenge posed by the CCP the greatest security threat of our time. We need to meet this unprecedented challenge with a unified diplomatic, economic, and military strategy that preserves American leadership and avoids war with China. As we celebrate the allied success in Ukraine, we must admit that, in Europe, deterrence failed. As a veteran who knows the horrors of war firsthand, I am committed to ensuring that deterrence doesn’t fail in the Pacific.”

Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta endorsed Moulton for a seat on the committee and pointed to Moulton’s experience as a Veteran who served in Iraq.

“As a Marine Corps veteran with four tours of combat experience in Iraq, Moulton is exactly what the national security community needs: a Democrat with the credibility to make hard decisions and speak with authority on the nation’s most critical security challenge,” Panetta wrote. “There are also few other members with the level of political acumen, relevant oversight experience, and academic background embodied by Moulton.”

After returning from Taiwan, Guam, and the Philippines in October, Moulton expressed that the U.S needed to act quickly in order to provide a strategy to prevent war with China. He expressed his gratitude for being selected to the committee.

“This is one of my utmost policy priorities in the coming Congress, and I am honored to have been selected to serve on the Committee. I look forward to working with Chairman Gallagher and colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” added Moulton. “National security must be a bipartisan issue.”

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