OPINION:
Rep. Chip Roy said on “Fox & Friends” that America needs to take back its prescription drug business from China but quick.
And honestly, if this coronavirus has any positives to offer at all, it’s this: The shedding of light on the tragedy called Farming Out America’s Medicine Manufacturing To China.
“China, I think something like 97 percent of our antibiotics come either directly from China or have significant materials that are coming through China,” the Texas Republican said, Fox reported. “But it’s not just China, by the way, right? India — I think 40 percent of our generics come from India. And this is something we need to deal with.”
Absolutely.
It is the era of America First, after all.
Giving our medical markets to overseas entities isn’t just sad financial dealing. It’s madness, given the anti-American nature of some of those overseas entities.
Self-destruct much?
Roy said the “Beat China Act” is on its way in Congress, to “help us with all countries maintaining our ability to produce drugs here in the United States or at least in our territories and protectorates.”
At this point in the coronavirus crisis, it’d be a step up just to have anyone but China make the drugs — anyone at all.
It was a tax change a couple of decades back that stripped Puerto Rico’s right to manufacture American medicines, Roy said.
“And so, we have got legislation that would just simply fix that tax code,” he said. “And if we do that, we can bring back a lot of the pharmaceutical manufacturing that left Puerto Rico … and went offshore to China.”
Sounds like a plan.
Now if only Republicans can keep House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from padding the bill with unrelated abortion funding, it may just have a decent chance of passing.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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