Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) issued the following statement following the Florida Cabinet’s discussion of state retirement plans inadvertently funneling to China, following his letter with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to the Cabinet on the issue:

“It’s very concerning to know our state employees are indirectly funding state-owned companies in China, which is the biggest adversary America has ever faced. Some of these companies, like Hikvision, are directly involved in mass surveillance of ethnic minorities, millions of whom are currently sitting in Chinese concentration camps, completely stripped of their basic human rights. I’m thankful to Gov. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis for looking into China and the impact of Florida’s investments and prioritizing this issue in today’s meeting. I hope the state changes course on these investments.”

Earlier this month, Waltz and Rubio led a letter to DeSantis, Moody and Patronis requesting a closer look at the state’s retirement system.

Florida’s Retirement System is the fourth-largest public retirement system in the country, with over $200 billion in assets, with some investments in a variety of Chinese state-owned companies actively involved in surveillance equipment for China’s People’s Liberation Army.

“Florida’s hardworking civil servants may not suspect that their publicly administered or managed retirement account invests in firms owned or controlled by the Government of China or the CCP,” the letter reads in part. “The reality is, however, that the FRS holds investments in a variety of such companies.

“It is of great concern to us that Florida public employees are often unwittingly investing in funds that hold stock of Chinese companies with direct affiliation to the CCP and the PLA, and we anticipate that it will be to all Floridians. Increased scrutiny for Chinese securities falls right in line with SBA’s current management of the FRS. The FRS currently has a number of legally required and laudable global governance mandates, including prohibitions on investing in companies that do business with Cuba, support the Maduro regime in Venezuela, or boycott our ally Israel.”

Read the full letter here.