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 Sen. Joni Ernst warns China is 'continuing to exploit' America through a 'loophole' that allows Chinese nationals to spy on U.S. military installations in Guam.

In 2019, the Biden administration enacted a policy to allow Chinese nationals to visit  the Northern Mariana Islands for 14 days without a visa. From there, many have been reported to charter boats to Guam in order to get information on sensitive U.S. military sites.

Ernst, speaking exclusively with DailyMail.com at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, said the visa loophole allows spies to take a 'hard look' at what that U.S. is doing militarily in Guam and then 'use that against us.' 

'We're trying to close those loopholes. I just think it's very, very important that we do this,' said Ernst, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Ernst and Rep. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas this week slamming the policy, which the administration has said provides a significant economic boost for the small island.

The senator from Iowa referenced the annual Reagan National Defense survey released Thursday which revealed that 51 percent of Americans think China is the 'greatest threat to the U.S.'  

'There is no direct kinetic action right now with China militarily,' she said, but according to the poll, the 'global spread of China - whether it is militarily or economically - does concern Americans.' 

As the U.S. figures out the best way to tackle the growing threat from China, the senator also said she believes American 'heroes' are hurting due to a blockade on promotions and nominations being enacted by one of her colleagues. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has held up over 400 military promotions over 10 months in protest over the Pentagon's policy to provide reimbursement benefits to troops seeking abortions.

But Ernst, the first female combat veteran to serve in the Senate, does not agree with her fellow Republican's approach.

And she has not yet heard a 'clear strategy' from Tuberville regarding his ongoing military blockade. 

'The bottom line is we have generals and admirals that are being held from their promotions, from their nominations, over a policy they have absolutely no control over,' said Ernst.

'So again, I disagree,' she told DailyMail.com about Tuberville's blockade. 

'I'm very pro-life I am I make no bones about it, but holding up innocent men, women and their families is not the solution so we can find another solution to address this policy. But it shouldn't be at the expense of the heroes that are serving in uniform.'

Tuberville suggested this week that he would back down on most of his military holds and instead focus on just keeping 'woke' officials from being confirmed.

His office told DailyMail.com that they would announce the list of the specific service members who would still be held up in due time. 

'This started out as, obviously, abortion overreach and those things. Now, since we've had all this time, we've had different groups across Washington, D.C., and the country that have evaluated all these military appointees,' he said to congressional reporters earlier this week. 

'I think that we need to make sure that people that are our generals and admirals should be vetted to some degree, but also understand that we need to get these people promoted, and it's been a long time for some of them.' 

Ernst also told DailyMail.com that there is an important distinction to make between the 'woke' Biden policies and service members themselves. 

She said 'it's not the sergeant on the street that is woke, it's not the hard working men and women wearing the uniform that are woke, it is the fact that we have policies that are being pushed by woke civilians that have oversight and serve in capacity in the Department of Defense.'

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

But Congress is currently stuck in negotiations over stripping out 'woke' policies by the Biden Department of Defense.

Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, agreed with Ernst's assessment during a panel 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 it's undermining the credibility our military and it is just a lie. It's completely wrong to attack the military and undermine support for our troops and their families out of a partisan political agenda.'

Smith, D-Wash., also blasted Tuberville over the holds, saying it's 'undermining' the military. 

The Democrat also expressed optimism for the eventual passage of the NDAA before Christmas. The bill has been passed for 62 consecutive years.

'I think we're pretty close to done,' said Smith.

'I think we have resolved those differences in a bipartisan, bicameral way with also input from the White House. I think we'll have a good bill and we'll be ready to go next week,' he continued.

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