Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to organize a bipartisan congressional delegation to China next month, a source familiar with the plans told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
The visit, which would mark Schumer’s second international trip as majority leader, is still in the planning stages, and details have not yet been confirmed. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) would join Schumer on the trip as lead Republican. The two are reaching out to senators from both parties to consider joining the CODEL, which will also make stops in South Korea and Japan.
Schumer, who has long been one of the Senate’s leading China hawks, passed a series of bills in the last year aimed at increasing U.S. competitiveness in the region and countering threats from Beijing.
The trip is being encouraged by the Biden administration, which has sent top officials to Beijing in recent months as part of a larger effort to reduce the simmering tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have all visited China this year on behalf of the White House. As has John Kerry, Biden’s special envoy on climate.
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Representatives for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the trip.
On the House side, both Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Jim Himes (D-CT) have said that they are looking into leading similar delegations.
