Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is bringing back legislation that would require the federal government to keep tabs on the country’s sister city cultural exchange programs.
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit organization founded by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. A U.S. city can form a sister city partnership with a foreign city by having both mayors sign an agreement, according to the organization’s website. The U.S. has over 2,000 sister city partnerships, eight of which are in Chattanooga.
Blackburn alleges that the Chinese government is using sister cities to “achieve geostrategic objectives” and that such partnerships “may leave American communities vulnerable to foreign espionage and ideological coercion,” according to a release from the senator’s office.
The senator was reelected to a second term in November. During her campaign, Blackburn aired a television advertisement called “Breaking China,” in which she shattered plates adorned with the Chinese flag and said China stole American jobs, sent the COVID-19 virus to the U.S. and is buying American land to spy on U.S. citizens.
(READ MORE: U.S. Sen Marsha Blackburn shatters china in campaign advertisement)