(The Center Square) – Asking American departmental defense leaders to monitor the purchasing and building efforts by the People’s Republic of China in strategic ports is the latest foreign policy legislation keyed by North Carolinians in the United States Senate.
National security tied to the Panama Canal prompted Sen. Ted Budd to file Strategic Ports Reporting Act, or Senate Bill 777, on Thursday. In this 119th Congress, Budd and fellow North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis have authored four bills related to foreign policy, two closely tied to immigration and two to defense.
“In January, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on PRC influence on the Panama Canal and potential impacts to U.S. national security,” Budd said in a release. “This hearing highlighted China’s increasing malign activities around the world and efforts to control global trade. The United States must face this reality head on, and the first step is a comprehensive monitoring of PRC activities at domestic and foreign ports that threaten our national interest.”
The legislation directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to study activities of China. The assessment should include vulnerabilities of ports controlled by the United States “and a strategy to secure trusted investment and ownership of strategic ports,” a release says.
Tillis earlier this month introduced a resolution for member countries of NATO to “commit at least 2% of their national gross domestic product to national defense spending to hold leadership or benefit at the expense of those countries who meet their obligations.”
Tillis introduced the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025, a “civil remedy for individuals harmed by sanctuary jurisdiction policies.” Budd introduced the POLICE Act of 2025, making assault of a law enforcement officer a deportable offense.
The 94 bills on which Tillis has joined as a cosponsor include a number with international implications related to digital security; agriculture; immigration; ports technology; mineral resources; fentanyl trafficking; foreign cartels and other criminal enterprise; United Nations actions; Iran; Yemen; Russia and Ukraine; and child trafficking.
The 84 bills on which Budd has joined as a cosponsor include a number with international implications related to digital security; agriculture; immigration; Isreal and Palestine; Yemen; Iran; United Nations actions; abortion assistance internationally; regulatory permitting; and Taiwan taxation.
