Senate Bills Task FBI, DOD With Investigating Chinese Communist Party-Linked ‘Service Centers’ In US

Republican senators introduced amendments to two major appropriations bills tasking the FBI and Department of Defense (DOD) with assessing the threat of the seven U.S. “service centers” run by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence arm.

A CCP “intelligence service” called the United Front Work Department (UFWD) operates “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” (OCSCs) within at least seven U.S. nonprofits, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation recently revealed. Although Chinese government records allege that U.S. OCSCs were established to assist the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with matters like processing passport applications, DCNF investigations revealed that the service centers also promote CCP propaganda and have sent officials to China to meet with officers from the Ministry of Public Security. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Chinese Intel-Linked ‘Service Centers’ In US Cities Used Cultural Events To Push Communist Party Propaganda)

The two amendments concerning OCSCs were introduced to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — which determines DOD’s annual budget — and the 2024 Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science And Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (CJS), which determines the budget for the Department of Commerce, DOJ and other agencies including NASA.

Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer told the DCNF that she worked to add a provision titled “Foreign Surveillance in the United States” to the FBI’s section within the CJS bill. The provision directs the FBI to report on “the agency’s response to the threats and risks posed by the presence of OCSCs in the United States.”

Likewise, Nebraska Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts proposed an amendment titled “Report On Joint Police Patrol Activities Of China” for the NDAA that will require the Secretary of Defense to assess the global OCSC network.

“China is the biggest defense challenge facing our country, and every member of Congress needs to understand all the ways in which the CCP may attempt to threaten our national security, especially on U.S. soil,” Fischer told the DCNF.

Specifically, Fischer’s provision directs the FBI to report on the number of OCSCs, their activities and what risks they may present to “economic productivity, individual liberties and national security.”

Between 2014 and 2017, the CCP established at least 60 OCSCs around the world, the DCNF recently reported. During this period, seven U.S. locations were established in San Francisco, California; St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Fischer’s provision also alleges that the FBI has “failed to provide fulsome and timely responses” after the subcommittee “requested information and formal briefings.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey took matters into his own hands by announcing on June 28 that his office launched an investigation into the St. Louis OCSC.

More recently, Fischer and Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts were among the 14 Republican senators led by Ted Budd of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee who sent letters to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI on July 10 demanding answers about OCSCs.

Ricketts told the DCNF that his amendment to NDAA will “require the Pentagon to work with all relevant agencies to not only identify law enforcement groups being funded by or working with the CCP, but also assess what risk these Overseas Service Centers — in the U.S. and around the world — have to our national security.”

Ricketts’ amendment would direct the Pentagon to consult with the State Department, Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI to assess which Chinese government, military security and police entities may “support or participate in any activities undertaken by illicit Overseas Chinese Service Centers.”

The amendment would also task the DOD with identifying which countries “conduct joint police patrols, host law enforcement training or exchanges or have concluded binding internal security agreements” with the Chinese government.

The DCNF identified several foreign OCSC branches performing law enforcement duties including conducting “armed patrols” or serving as “Overseas Chinese Police Contact Points” for the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security.

If adopted, Ricketts’ amendment would also task the Pentagon with determining if foreign OCSCs pose a national security threat to U.S. “interests and personnel” abroad, and compel DOD to outline policies and measures to reduce the risk of OCSCs.

“The CCP will do whatever it takes to achieve Xi’s goal of replacing America as the global dominating power,” Ricketts warned.

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