As an attorney and former General Counsel to Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), I have worked in the halls of Congress on many of the national security and economic challenges posed to America by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That experience prepared me to think critically about the multifaceted threats China presents to America’s security, economy, and global leadership.
It’s no secret that China is America’s number one adversary. For years, the Chinese Communist Party has worked to undermine our country, through intellectual property theft, unfair trade practices, threats against our allies like Taiwan, and growing cooperation with hostile regimes such as Russia and Iran. The CCP is also purchasing large amounts of American farmland, which is a national security problem here at home. As many farmers in my district say, “food security is national security.”
I’ve worked on legislation with Senator Scott on addressing a rising number of surrogacy services catering exclusively to Chinese nationals who want American-born children. Because of our current birthright citizenship jurisprudence and lack of legal guardrails, we have a pipeline of American citizens being born to surrogates, then shipped to Chinese billionaires and CCP officials. It’s a massive human trafficking issue, and it’s a massive national security threat.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and the Chinese Communist Party are not hiding their intentions. They are willing to challenge American interests openly on the global stage and will use every tool at their disposal to weaken our country’s economic and strategic position.
It’s important for the next generation of conservatives — leaders like me who are running for Congress — to fully understand the lengths the Chinese Communist Party is willing to go to undermine our country.
The current debate over artificial intelligence (AI) is certainly tied into this. It’s my belief that the race to AI supremacy is one of the most important national conversations happening today.
It’s clear that the United States is locked in a race with China for leadership in AI, similar to the space race we had against the Soviets in the 1960s, but with potentially much more at stake. This competition between rival nations will shape economic power, national security, and global influence for centuries to come.
Whenever we are talking about the future of AI, we must realize that there are legitimate concerns about workforce displacement that must be addressed, just as there are reasonable guardrails that must be considered. Our district is home to fishing, shipbuilding, manufacturing, healthcare, and many other essential industries. Across these sectors and more, workers rightly share a growing concern that AI and automation could threaten the jobs that hardworking families rely on to support themselves.
But we also have to acknowledge the race for AI supremacy for what it is — a race against our biggest adversary. I don’t believe we should take a gloom-and-doom view of AI, but I do understand the concerns that others have.
I also share the perspective expressed by Vice President JD Vance at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris: We should not approach AI through a lens of fear, but through a lens of opportunity. America must win the race against China. The Chinese Communist Party has shown it will go to great lengths to use AI for biased reporting, propaganda, censorship, and the spread of misinformation. It has also proven that it is highly more capable to develop AI than we’ve given them credit for.
We can’t win the AI race without building the needed infrastructure here at home. That means investing in and utilizing the American workforce to build it, oversee it, and ensure the technology companies we use to create that infrastructure do so while respecting the principles of free speech, innovation, and our shared American values.
In his speech in Paris, Vice President Vance also highlighted his thoughts on AI in regards to labor: “We refuse to view AI as a purely disruptive technology that will inevitably automate away our labor force. We believe, and we will fight for policies that ensure, that AI is going to make our workers more productive, and we expect that they will reap the rewards with higher wages and better benefits.”
I agree that we must capitalize on the enormous opportunities AI presents for productivity and economic growth. But we cannot leave American workers behind in the process. If we are asking our workforce to help America win the global race for AI leadership, we must also equip them with the skills needed to succeed in that future.
That’s why I strongly support skilled job training that teaches workers how to use AI to enhance their work — not replace it. We should establish a strong baseline of education and training so American workers become more productive, more competitive, and never obsolete. We have to develop AI in a way that maintains and enhances the identity of workers who are made in the image of God, rather than undermining their God-given identities.
The challenges posed by China and other adversaries require serious leadership. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership and guided by his America First vision, America can lead the world in artificial intelligence while protecting our most important resource: the American people. Our lives might very well depend on it.
Austin Rogers is a Panama City native, conservative attorney, and former General Counsel to Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.). He is a candidate for Congress in Florida’s 2nd District.
