House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is rolling out a bill to block China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports.

Steel, R-Calif., a member of the House Select Committee on Communist China, created the Secure Our Ports Act, which would prohibit companies owned fully, or in-part, by state-owned enterprises in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from operating or managing a U.S. port.

Steel told Fox News Digital that adversaries accessing U.S. ports can harm U.S. supply chains because it would enable them to access shipping infrastructure.

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Steel said her bill "would shore up America’s economic and national security in the face of threats from Communist China and their like-minded allies."

"Congress must protect America’s supply chains by restricting enemy governments from having high-level access to our ports," Steel told Fox News Digital. "Nations which threaten the very existence of the United States should not have easy access to our port infrastructure, a key lifeline of America’s supply chains."

Steel’s home region in Southern California is home to two of the largest ports in the country: the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.

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Steel’s office told Fox News Digital that multiple China-owned conglomerates have an active presence in American ports, including on the West Coast. This includes the Chinese-Owned Shipping Company (COSCO) on the West Coast and China Oil and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO) on the Mississippi River.

The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Stephanie Bice, Ken Calvert,