Biden must close the visa ‘loophole’ allowing Chinese to SPY on U.S. troops in Guam warns top Republican Joni Ernst – and blasts GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s military nominations blockade for hurting American ‘heroes’

Top Republican Senator Joni Ernst warns that China “continues to exploit” America through a “loophole” that allows Chinese citizens to spy on US military facilities in Guam.

In 2019, the Biden administration adopted a policy allowing Chinese citizens to visit the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days without a visa. From there, many reportedly chartered boats to Guam to obtain information about secret US military installations.

Ernst, speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, said the visa loophole allows spies to take a “closer look” at what the US is doing militarily in Guam and then “exploit it’s against us.” .’

“We are trying to close these loopholes. I just think it’s very, very important,” said Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Ernst and Rep. Neil Dunn, R-Fla., wrote a letter to the secretary of Homeland Security. Alejandro Mayorkas this week criticized the policy, which the administration says provides a major economic boost to the small island.

Andersen Air Force Base on Guam

The Iowa senator referred to The annual Reagan National Defense Poll, released Thursday, found that 51 percent of Americans consider China the “greatest threat to the United States.”

“There is no direct active engagement with China militarily right now,” she said, but according to the poll, “China’s global expansion—whether militarily or economically—is what really worries Americans.”

As the US searches for the best way to deal with the growing threat from China, the senator also said she believes American “heroes” are suffering because of a blockade on promotions and nominations imposed by one of her colleagues.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, suspended more than 400 military promotions over 10 months to protest the Pentagon’s policy of providing workers’ compensation benefits to service members seeking abortions.

But Ernst, the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate, disagrees with her Republican colleague’s approach.

And she has yet to hear a “clear strategy” from Tuberville regarding the ongoing military blockade.

“The bottom line is that we have generals and admirals who are being held back from promotions and assignments because of policies that they have absolutely no control over,” Ernst said.

“And again, I disagree,” she told DailyMail.com of the Tuberville blockade.

“I am very pro-life, I make no secret of it, but detaining innocent men, women and their families is not the solution, so we can find another solution to address this policy. But this should not come at the expense of the heroes who serve in uniform.”

Tuberville suggested this week that he would abandon most of his military positions and instead focus on preventing “woke” officials from being confirmed.

His office told DailyMail.com that in due course they would announce a list of specific military personnel who would still be detained.

“It started obviously with the abuse of abortion and things like that. Now, because we had so much time, we had different groups in Washington, D.C., and around the country evaluating all of these military appointees,” he told congressional reporters earlier this week.

“I think we need to make sure that the people who are our generals and admirals need to be vetted to some extent, but also understand that we need to promote these people, and it’s been a long time coming for some of them.”

Ernst also told DailyMail.com that there is an important distinction to be made between Biden’s “woke” policies and the military members themselves.

Sailors prepare to enter a building for a close combat training exercise at Naval Station Guam.

Ernst told DailyMail.com there is an important difference between Biden’s “woke” policies and the service members themselves.

She said, “It’s not the sergeants on the street who are being woke, it’s not the woke hardworking men and women wearing the uniform, it’s the fact that we have policies that are being pushed by woke civilians who oversee and serve in a Department of Defense capacity.”

Ernst also said she believes the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will be passed before the end of the year.

But Congress is currently locked in negotiations over a rollback of Biden’s “woke” Defense Department policies.

Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed with Ernst’s assessment during debate earlier in the day.

“I really want to thank Senator Joni Ernst for saying the military is not woke,” he told DailyMail.com.

“People need to stop saying that this undermines confidence in our armed forces and that this is simply a lie. It is completely wrong to attack the military and undermine support for our soldiers and their families based on a partisan political agenda.”

“I think we’re very close to completion,” Smith said of the NDAA.

Smith, a Washington Democrat, also criticized Tuberville for the holds, saying it “undermines” the Army.

The Democrat also expressed optimism that the NDAA could be passed before Christmas. The bill has been passed for 62 consecutive years.

“I think we’re very close to finishing,” Smith said.

“I think we have resolved these differences in a bipartisan, bicameral way, with the participation of the White House. “I think we’ll have a good score and we’ll be ready to go next week,” he continued.

The text of the NDAA bill is expected to be published on Monday.