Washington D.C. – Today, State Armor, a non-profit organization committed to educating the American public and lawmakers about state policy solutions to global threats, announced its launch.
“States are now on the front lines against foreign adversaries. In fact, for years states have been targeted by well-resourced, technologically sophisticated foreign adversaries, particularly communist China,” said Michael Lucci, Founder and CEO of State Armor. “The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a broad effort to supplant the United States so it can rewrite global norms according to its authoritarian model. To achieve its goals, the CCP aggressively pursues a strategy to gain economic leverage over state and local governments, to make states dependent on their technologies, and to suppress the First Amendment-protected speech of Chinese dissidents within America.”
To counter the CCP’s strategy, State Armor will transform America’s decentralized system of federalism into a tremendous national security asset. State Armor dedicates its energy to exposing malign CCP influence operations and educating lawmakers and the public about threats to our supply chains, vulnerabilities caused by Chinese technologies, the pitfalls of enabling the Communist Party’s gross human rights violations in China, and the CCP’s violation of civil liberties in America.
“State Armor is going to bring awareness and ready-for-action plans to push counter-China policies that many of our state leaders know need to get done, but just aren’t sure where to start,” said former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. “It’s no secret the Chinese Communist Party poses a major threat to the American way of life, but until now there hasn’t been a group solely focused on taking on Communist China at the state level. This issue is not partisan. States want to take action; State Armor will be there to show them how.”
Lucci warns, “China’s communist government is already succeeding in targeting U.S. critical infrastructure and is insinuating itself in the fabric of American society—our economy, even our children’s schools—for leverage it may one day use. They harass and intimidate Chinese dissidents and Chinese Americans in our own free country. It must end.”
State Armor intends to mobilize a network of stakeholders, from concerned citizens to experts, to aid states in developing and implementing comprehensive, common sense, and bipartisan solutions to protect themselves from what is widely regarded as a generation-defining foreign threat.
“Beijing’s strategy to weaken the U.S. runs through the states, as evidenced by Xi Jinping’s impromptu drop-in to Anchorage to work a trade deal with Alaska after Mar-a-Lago in 2017, and more recently the Communist Party’s very effective program to drive a wedge between the President and the California Governor, both members of the same party,” said Dave Stilwell, former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
“Instead of the entree into the U.S. economy, Beijing has created fifty additional access points. An initiative like State Armor is long overdue – a very necessary strategy to prevail in the New Cold War.”
State Armor believes state solutions will not only provide near-term safeguards but pave the way for federal policymakers to adopt stronger national protections.
“For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has targeted our state and local governments as the soft underbelly of our federal system,” said Amb. Kelley Currie, an international human rights lawyer and former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. “The innovative approach State Armor is taking focuses on turning this potential weakness into a strength. By giving state officials the tools they need to fight back, State Armor’s work will be instrumental in assuring a genuine whole-of-nation response to the CCP.”To learn more about State Armor visit their website at StateArmor.org.
State Armor is proud to receive support from several prominent national security voices:
Chairman Mike Gallagher, Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party
“From CCP-affiliated purchases of agricultural land to efforts by the party to influence state and local politics, states are on the front lines of our New Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party. We may call this a ‘strategic competition,’ but this is not a polite tennis match. The most fundamental human rights and freedoms are at stake. I commend State Armor for acting with a sense of urgency to expose the CCP’s nefarious networks across our states and equip local lawmakers with the tools to fight this New Cold War.”
Alex Gray, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the WHNSC and current CEO of American Global Strategies LLC:
“U.S. states are on the front line of the long-term competition between the United States and the PRC and a responsible American strategy requires proactive preparation at the state level. State Armor will provide the organizing power needed at the state level to spur that preparation and address the dangers of Chinese Communist Party influence and access in the states. The time for action is here, and State Armor will be critical in leading the way.”
Jackie Deal, Co-founder, American Academy for Strategic Education
“Chinese Communist Party sources have for years talked about ‘going deep’ to penetrate the United States not only at the federal level but also at the state and local level. Their goal is to manipulate American views of China and to shape U.S. policies in directions favorable to the CCP. ‘Going deep’ operations, meet State Armor. By educating state legislators and their constituents across the country, Michael and his team plan to make the CCP regret targeting Main Street America.”
