But we need to go further. Recall that an official of the Communist Party of China threatened to cut off US access to life-savings medicines that are manufactured in the People’s Republic of China [Bing Translate translation from the Xinhua publication].
If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing the travel ban on the United States, it also announced the strategic control of medical products and the ban on exports to the United States, then the United States will fall into the ocean of new crown [corona] viruses.
Senator Tom Cotton (R, AR) and Congressman Mike Gallagher (R, WI) have introduced legislation that will begin to address such dependencies and improve our national security.
The Chinese Communist Party threatened to cut off America’s access to vital drugs in the midst of a pandemic caused by its own failures. It’s time to pull America’s supply chains for life-saving medicine out of China and make the CCP pay for contributing to this global emergency.
The proposed legislation would
- task an FDA registry with tracking drug ingredients
- ban the Federal government from buying drugs with a supply chain that originates in the PRC
- require drugs to be labeled with the name of the country where they came from
- provide benefits to manufacturers who make their drugs or medical equipment in the US
- take effect in 2022.
But it, or quickly following legislation, needs to go much farther.
- Feds should buy no drugs with a supply chain that passes through the PRC, not merely originate there
- manufacturer benefits should be limited to preferential government buys and support for drug development, not overt outlays of taxpayer money
- push the pace: the requirements should take effect in 2021, or sooner, depending on how quickly manufacturers can readjust their supply chains
Further legislation should do the same regarding other items important to national security, items like medical equipment, computer chips of all types, energy-related equipment.