How did the PA delegation vote on the House TikTok ban?

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that calls for China tech giant ByteDance to divest TikTok or the popular social video app will effectively be banned in the U.S. The measure passed with a resounding 352-65 vote and with one member voting present. The legislation, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was introduced March 5 by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Two days later, House members on the Energy and Commerce Committee, including Rep. John Joyce (R-13), voted unanimously to approve the bill, which refers to TikTok as a threat to national security because it is controlled by a foreign adversary. The bill now heads to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future as senators appear divided about the legislation, and other federal and state-led efforts to ban TikTok have stalled. Pennsylvania’s House delegation saw 14 members in favor while only three – Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-02), Scott Perry (R-10) and Summer Lee (D-12) – voted against the measure. Perry’s vote went against the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who had warned Republicans against approving the bill. While Trump believes TikTok is a national security threat, he also said barring it would empower Facebook, which he considers “an enemy of the people.” Perry joined other Trump supporters such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) were among the 197 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill — which easily cleared the two-thirds vote threshold it needed to pass the lower chamber. The vote also bucked Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass, whose Susquehanna International Group trading firm, owns a 15 percent stake in ByteDance, while Yass has a personal share of seven percent.

Susquehanna first invested in ByteDance in 2012, long before the company created TikTok and then merged it with a short-form video app called “Musical.ly” in 2018. When the app exploded in popularity, Susquehanna’s investment paid off.

Today, at least 170 million Americans use TikTok regularly, according to company data.

“This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a TikTok spokesperson said after the vote was passed. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.” Pennsylvania’s junior Sen. John Fetterman issued a statement, calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to put the bill on the floor.

President Joe Biden has previously said that he would sign the bill if it is passed.

updated to include Fetterman comment

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By: Steve Ulrich
Title: How Did PA Delegation Vote On House TikTok Ban?
Sourced From: www.politicspa.com/how-did-pa-delegation-vote-on-house-tiktok-ban/132575/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-did-pa-delegation-vote-on-house-tiktok-ban
Published Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2024 18:20:06 +0000

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