AFPI Names New Chair of Its China Policy Initiative

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) named Lee Zeldin, former representative for New York’s first congressional district and former New York gubernatorial candidate, as the new Chair of AFPI’s China Policy Initiative. Zeldin currently serves as the Chair of AFPI’s Pathway to 2025 Initiative.

“I am honored and excited for this opportunity to head the extremely important work that the America First Policy Institute is doing on combating Communist China’s influence over the United States,” said Lee Zeldin. “AFPI has already made significant strides in this field under the hard work of Steve Yates, and I look forward to building on his successes in this movement.”

Zeldin has written extensively on the malign influence of the Communist Chinese government on American business, education, and interests. Earlier this week, he led a Protecting America Initiative panel discussion in Pennsylvania regarding defending American agricultural land in the United States from China alongside former President Donald Trump. Additional commentary from Lee Zeldin on China:

• State lawmakers must lead fight to thwart threat from Communist China
• Biden’s financial regulators give China-backed brokers a hand, but who is surprised?

“We couldn’t be more thrilled with Lee taking the China Policy Initiative under his wing as the America First Movement marches forward,” said Brooke Rollins, President & CEO of APFI. “Lee offers a wealth of experience from his time in the United States Military and his time in Congress, where he served eight years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. As China’s communist influence continues to target American interests at home and abroad, it is a blessing to have an America First patriot like Lee fighting this important fight.”

The China Policy Initiative was previously led by the Honorable Steve Yates, who is departing AFPI to pursue other opportunities.

Learn more about the work of the China Policy Initiative here.

About the Honorable Lee Zeldin:
Lee Zeldin is a former United States Congressman, representing New York’s first congressional district from 2015­–2023. Most recently, Zeldin sent shockwaves across the Nation after nearly winning the New York gubernatorial campaign as a Republican, receiving more votes than any Republican statewide since Nelson Rockefeller 52 years earlier. With Zeldin running strong at the top of the ticket, Republicans were able to flip several suburban House districts across the state, which resulted in a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Congressman Lee Zeldin grew up in Suffolk County, New York, where he graduated from William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach. He then attended the State University of New York at Albany and Albany Law School. At just 23 years old, Zeldin was sworn into the New York State Bar, making him the youngest attorney in the state.

Zeldin spent four years on Active Duty with the U.S. Army after completing ROTC and served in different capacities, including as a Military Intelligence Officer, Prosecutor, and Military Magistrate. In the summer of 2006, while assigned to the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division, Zeldin deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He still serves to this day as a Lieutenant Colonel in his 22nd year in the United States military.

In 2010, Zeldin was elected to the New York State Senate. As a State Senator, Zeldin led the successful effort to repeal the MTA Payroll Tax for 80 percent of employers, a job-killing tax that was hurting New York’s small businesses. He also created the PFC Joseph Dwyer Program, a peer-to-peer counseling program for veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury; the program quickly expanded across New York.

Following four years in the state senate, Zeldin was elected to Congress in 2014, where he served eight years on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and six years on the House Financial Services Committee. As one of two Jewish Republicans in Congress, Representative Zeldin was a co-chairman of the House Republican Israel Caucus, which had over 100 members. He championed many important local priorities for his district, including the successful effort to save Plum Island, a large number of Army Corps of Engineers projects, and a $2 billion Electron-Ion Collider he was able to steer to Brookhaven National Lab. He quickly became a prominent and outspoken national voice on U.S. foreign policy, border security, military affairs, combating antisemitism, and much more.

In the ensuing months after finishing his four terms in Congress, Zeldin created and is the Chairman of a new charity called Zeldin Cares, joined the Board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and founded Zeldin Strategies, where he serves as CEO. He otherwise remains active in public service, traveling the state and country to deliver speeches, frequently participating in media interviews, and growing the Republican Party through his Leadership America Needs PAC.

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