While a newly created House Committee on China will focus on deterring the rise of their defensive capabilities, Rep. Buddy Carter believes their must also be an emphasis on the impact the country has on the production and entire supply chain of goods purchased in America and called for the pharmaceutical industry to move all production stateside.
“Combatting China is a policy goal that touches nearly every aspect of American life,” Carter told Commerce Newswire. “In addition to ending U.S. taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research, I am particularly concerned about the outsized role China plays in our pharmaceutical supply chain. COVID-19 emphasized the importance of bringing our PPE and drug manufacturing back home. We cannot rely on a hostile, communist foreign nation to give American citizens' health the attention and security it needs. I’ve introduced the MADE in America Act to secure America’s pharmaceutical independence and hope the select committee on China will closely examine it.”
House lawmakers recently voted 365-65 to create a House Select Committee on China which will deal with short-term military readiness in East Asia and long-term economic competition posed by China, Politico reported. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) will be chairman of the committee and no other members have currently been named.
“I’d like to thank Speaker-elect McCarthy for appointing me chairman of the Select Committee on China and for his leadership on this issue,” Gallagher said in a statement on his website. “The greatest threat to the United States is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP continues to commit genocide, obscure the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, steal hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American intellectual property and threaten Taiwan. The Select Committee on China will push back in bipartisan fashion before it’s too late. Even in divided government, we have an opportunity to build a united front against CCP aggression.”
Carter's MADE in America Act is designed “to mitigate drug shortages and provide incentives for maintaining, expanding and relocating the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, medical diagnostic devices, pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment in the United States, and for other purposes.”
Carter was first elected in 2014 to represent the people of Georgia's 1st Congressional District. He is a sitting member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Budget Committee. Before taking public office, he was the owner and operator of several pharmacies for over three decades.
