Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., this week called on Congress' Joint Economic Committee to hold hearings on the Chinese economy and the country's economic policies in a manner similar to what the panel did in the 1990s with the Soviet Union.
Schmitt sent a letter to the panel's chair, Sen. Martin Heinrich, R-N.M., and its vice chair, Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., calling on the committee to release annual unclassified reports and to hold hearings on China's economy and its economy policies, noting in the letter that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission previously recommended similar actions.
"This analysis and the subsequent reports were especially important, as the Soviet Union stood to gain from lying about its economic condition," Schmitt wrote, according to the Washington Examiner.
He added that China "has harmed the American economy and the American worker" through "currency manipulation, malicious trade practices, and theft of intellectual property."