June 2, 2026
Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
To require a report regarding the scope of efforts by the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative to undermine the United States-led international world order and a detailed strategy regarding how the United States Government intends to counter such Initiative, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Build Responsible Infrastructure Development for the Global Economy Act
or the BRIDGE Act
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
(1)
The BRI, enshrined in the CCP’s constitution, is a comprehensive, long-term economic development strategy founded by General Secretary and President Xi Jinping to link regions worldwide through multibillion infrastructure projects. The CCP utilizes the BRI’s informal framework as a vehicle to establish a Sinocentric world order based on its authoritarian model of governance.
(2)
The BRI poses immediate and long-term risks to the national security, economic security, and international influence of the United States and our partners by giving the PRC the ability to project power more widely in geostrategic regions such as the Indo-Pacific. The BRI, covering countries representing over half of the world’s population and over one-third of global economic output, seeks to pull nations into China’s geopolitical orbit. In its second decade, the BRI’s long-term risks have begun to materialize in cases such as Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port debt restructuring and Pakistan’s China-Pakistan Economic Corridor cost overruns, while Italy’s December 2023 withdrawal demonstrates that allied coordination can reverse BRI accession.
(3)
Although the United States Government has taken steps to respond to the BRI, including through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, the reauthorization and expansion of the United States International Development Finance Corporation under the DFC Modernization and Reauthorization Act of 2025, and the America First Investment Policy memorandum, the United States has not yet articulated a single, integrated, government-wide strategy to counter the BRI, leaving Beijing room to leverage its regional inroads worldwide through the BRI and other PRC-alternative institutions to achieve global preeminence.
(4)
The United States should not underestimate the significance of the BRI and establish a coherent, government-wide strategy that effectively seeks to counter China’s economic and political scope and influence through the BRI.
Sec. 3. Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States to counter efforts by the PRC and the CCP to create an integrated economic and political order under its leadership, which continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.
Sec. 4. Report regarding the scope of certain efforts by the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party with respect to the Belt and Road Initiative
(a) In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the heads of any other relevant Federal department or agency, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following:
(1)
Information relating to the scope of efforts by the PRC and CCP to utilize the BRI to undermine the United States-led international world order.
(2)
Information relating to the means and objectives of the PRC and the CCP in using the BRI as a vehicle to create a parallel order of alternative PRC-centric organizations.
(3)
An assessment of current United States Government tools and strategies to counter the BRI.
(4)
A detailed strategy regarding how the Department of State, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the Department of Commerce intend to coordinate its resources to counter the BRI, including the foreign assistance functions formerly administered by the United States Agency for International Development that have been transferred to the Department of State. Such strategy shall include the following:
(A)
A description of interagency efforts to counter the BRI, together with recommendations on how to bolster the United States Government’s economic competition against China.
(B)
An assessment of past efforts by the United States Government to mitigate the effects of BRI, as well as the gaps in current United States Government policy and implementation.
(C)
A timeline that holds the United States Government accountable in planning and executing such strategy.
(D)
A strategic roadmap that details how the United States Government will link such strategy to broader national security priorities and objectives, including the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy.
(E)
A description that elaborates how the United States Government will align strategic planning and coordination with key allies and partners to effectively respond to the BRI, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.
(b) Implementation plan
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and the heads of any other relevant Federal department and agency, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan for implementing the strategy described in subsection (a)(4), including the following:
(1)
A description of clearly defined program metrics, goals, targets, and planned outcomes for such strategy.
(2)
A plan to monitor and evaluate such strategy, and progress made toward achieving such goals, targets, and planned outcomes.
(3)
A plan to ensure such strategy is promoting United States foreign policy goals in the Indo-Pacific by offering a positive vision for shared economic and infrastructure growth in a free and open international order.
(c) Form
The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex if necessary. The unclassified portion of such report shall be made available on a publicly available internet website of the Federal Government.
(d) Appropriate congressional committees defined
In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means—
(1)
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; and
(2)
the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
Sec. 5. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) BRI
The term BRI means the Belt and Road Initiative of the CCP.
(2) CCP
The term CCP means the Chinese Communist Party.
(3) China; PRC
The terms China and PRC mean the People’s Republic of China.