A move by some members of the U.S. House of Representatives to include a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requiring an assessment and report on the impact of South Korea's alleged discrimination against U.S. companies on American national security has been blocked by the House Rules Committee.
According to the House Rules Committee on July 11 (local time), Representative Carol Miller (R-WV) and Representative Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) submitted an amendment to the NDAA that would have mandated an executive branch report to Congress on the "impact of South Korean technology protectionism on national security." However, the amendment was not selected for floor consideration during the committee's review process.
The proposed amendment would have required the Secretary of Commerce to brief the relevant committees, including the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, on the national security implications of South Korean discriminatory measures against U.S. tech companies, which it claimed could benefit Chinese tech firms.
Specifically, it sought a report on whether legislation and regulations targeting or discriminating against U.S. tech companies, such as the "Online Platform Act" currently pending in the South Korean National Assembly, could affect national security.
It also called for a report on whether office raids and threats of prosecution against U.S. companies pose a risk of causing unnecessary friction with the U.S. and promoting the growth of Chinese tech firms.
Some in the U.S. administration and Congress have raised concerns that the South Korean government is discriminating against U.S. companies, citing incidents such as the large-scale personal data breach at Coupang.
In response, the South Korean government maintains that there is no discrimination against companies based on their nationality.
Representative Miller, who introduced the amendment, is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. During a subcommittee hearing in January, she also argued that South Korea is hindering free trade in the digital sector and pursuing legislation targeting U.S. companies.
The NDAA is an annual bill that authorizes budget expenditures and policies for the Department of Defense and must be passed by Congress every year.
It is customary for hundreds to thousands of amendments to be submitted during the Rules Committee review stage after the bill passes the House Armed Services Committee and before it reaches the floor.
This is because lawmakers often attempt to include various policies they are promoting in the NDAA, in addition to policies directly or indirectly related to national defense.
In this process, many amendments with little direct relevance to national defense are submitted.
The failure of this amendment to be included for floor consideration appears to be due to a determination that it lacks a significant connection to national defense.
More than 1,300 amendments were submitted this year, and the Rules Committee selected only about 300 of them for floor consideration.
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