Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 15, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Senate Hearing on Coronavirus Crisis Exposes Dangers of US Dependence on China for Drug Sourcing
WASHINGTON—Millions of Americans depend on drugs that are made in part or wholly in China because U.S. manufacturers moved their supply chains and much of their manufacturing facilities to that country, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship was told on March 12.
Josh
Hawley: Legislation ‘Necessary’ to Address Chinese Monopoly of U.S. Drug,
Medical Supplies
AFP/Getty Images
Josh
Hawley Introduces Legislation to Expose Chinese Monopoly of U.S. Drug, Medical
Supplies
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Coronavirus Live
Updates: Markets Reel as Virus Spreads Across the World
Hawley Introduces Security
Bill Addressing Data, Privacy Concerns
Josh
Hawley: Legislation ‘Necessary’ to Address Chinese Monopoly of U.S. Drug,
Medical Supplies
24 Feb 20201,067
2:59
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) wrote a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) Monday, contending that it is “inexcusable” that America
relies on China for its medical supply chain. Hawley called hearings and
legislation to determine how to address America’s reliance on Chinese for
producing vital medicine.
The Missouri conservative wrote a
letter to U.S. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn after reports revealed that the
coronavirus has jeopardized the “domestic supply of some 150 prescription
drugs, including antibiotics, generics, and branded drugs.”
Hawley said that the time is coming for Congress to have
oversight and consider legislation to address the insecurity of America’s
medical supply chain.
The degree to which some of our own manufacturers rely on China
to produce life-saving and life-sustaining medications is inexcusable. It is
becoming clear to me that both oversight hearings and additional legislation are
necessary to determine the extent of our reliance on Chinese production and
protect our medical product supply chain.
Reports have revealed the extent to
which China produces and exports the overwhelming majority of pharmaceuticals
to the United States. China exports 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80
percent of active ingredients used to make drugs in Americans.
Another report stated that America
is losing its ability to make pharmaceuticals because of Chinese dumping of
low-price products into the global market.
Rosemary Gibson, the author of China
Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine, told Breitbart
News Tonight host Rebecca Mansour that America should pursue a
federal industrial policy to renew domestic manufacturing of medicines and
medical products.
I would have our federal government invest in helping to rebuild
our industrial base using advanced manufacturing technology that can produce
our medicines much more cheaply, safely, with less environmental footprint, and
fully, from soup to nuts from those core raw materials to finished drug in one
location all here in the United States.
There will be opponents who say, ‘No, we should let the market
do it.’ The market will never do this. They’ll never make this investment. So
we have to decide as a country, do we want to have some degree of
self-sufficiency in our ability to make medicine? Do we want our military not
to be dependent on China for pharmaceuticals to treat chemical and biological
agents?
Gibson added, “We’ll be depending on China to help us out when
we run out of medicines. The absurdity of it is extraordinary. We have to
decide as a country, do we want to have some capacity to make our own
medicines, or not?”
Josh
Hawley Introduces Legislation to Expose Chinese Monopoly of U.S. Drug, Medical
Supplies
27 Feb 202084
4:34
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced
the Medical Supply Chain Security Act on Thursday to combat potential American
drug shortages created in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China and to
reveal America’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and
medical devices.
Sen. Hawley said in a statement that
the legislation would provide the country with the information necessary to
secure the medical supply chain. He explained:
The coronavirus outbreak in China
has highlighted severe and longstanding weaknesses in our medical supply chain.
This is more than unfortunate; it’s a danger to public health. Our health
officials need to know the extent of our reliance on Chinese production so they
can take all necessary action to protect Americans. This legislation will give
us the information we need to better secure our supply chain and ensure that
Americans have uninterrupted access to life-saving drugs and medical devices.
The spread of the coronavirus
throughout China has exposed the deep vulnerabilities in the U.S. medical
supply chain as well as the country’s dependence upon China producing
pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Axios reported that the
coronavirus outbreak has jeopardized the American supply of roughly 150
pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, generics, and brand-name drugs. Some of
these drugs do not have alternatives on the market.
China exports 97 percent of all
antibiotics and 80 percent of active ingredients used to make drugs in America.
America is losing its ability to make pharmaceuticals
because of Chinese dumping of low-price products into the global market.
Public health officials at the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) currently have limited resources for assessing
supply chain vulnerabilities. The FDA recently asked Congress for more
statutory authority to require that manufacturers notify the agency when they
discover circumstances that may lead to shortages in essential medical devices.
Giving the FDA more authority would allow the agency to ensure that they can
take the necessary steps to mitigate potential shortages of life-saving drugs
and medical devices.
Hawley’s legislation would:
- Require that manufacturers report
imminent or forecasted shortages of medical devices to the FDA as they
currently do for pharmaceutical drugs.
- Allow the FDA to expedite the review of
essential medical devices that require pre-market approval in the event of
expected shortages reported by a manufacturer.
- Grant the FDA additional authority to
request additional information from manufacturers of essential drugs or
devices regarding their manufacturing capacity, including sourcing of
component parts, sourcing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, use of raw
materials, and any other details the FDA might find relevant to assess the
security of the American medical supply chain.
Hawley’s legislation follows as the
Missouri populist wrote a letter this week to FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn,
asking Hahn what actions he and the agency can take to ensure that American
citizens do not face shortages of life-saving drugs and medical drugs.
The Missouri senator said Tuesday
that the coronavirus outbreak has proved that America needs to “stop relying on
China for our critical medical supply chains.”
If
the #Coronavirus crisis makes anything clear, it’s that we
need to stop relying on #China for our critical medical supply chains. I
will introduce legislation this week to jump start that effort. Details to
follow https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/world/asia/coronavirus-news.html?referringSource=articleShare …
Coronavirus Live
Updates: Markets Reel as Virus Spreads Across the World
Rosemary Gibson, the author of China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China
for Medicine, recently told Breitbart News Tonight host
Rebecca Mansour that the United States should pursue an industrial policy to
renew domestic manufacturing of medicines and medical products in the homeland.
I would have our federal government
invest in helping to rebuild our industrial base using advanced manufacturing
technology that can produce our medicines much more cheaply, safely, with less
environmental footprint, and fully, from soup to nuts from those core raw
materials to finished drug in one location all here in the United States.
Hawley also said Tuesday that the
Donald Trump administration should consider additional travel restrictions to
combat the spread of the coronavirus throughout the United States.
“This is a no-brainer. It’s not just
China any longer. With the rise of cases in Europe & Asia, we need to take
additional steps to protect Americans,” Hawley tweeted.
This
is a no-brainer. It’s not just China any longer. With the rise of cases in
Europe & Asia, we need to take additional steps to protect Americans https://twitter.com/kylieatwood/status/1232654412440625152 …
Sen. Josh
Hawley (R-Mo.) addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority
Policy Conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center Auditorium in
Washington, on June 27, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Hawley Introduces Security
Bill Addressing Data, Privacy Concerns
November 19, 2019 Updated: November 19, 2019
Share
A bill (pdf) to fight the flow of Americans’ sensitive
personal data to China and other countries that threaten
national security was introduced on Nov. 18 by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in
the wake of a hearing that raised concerns over Chinese-owned video-sharing
app TikTok.
TikTok had said it’s hired a U.S.-based auditing firm to analyze the
app’s data security practices, in a letter to lawmakers at a Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee hearing chaired by Hawley on Nov. 5.
During the hearing, Hawley said all it
would take is “one knock on the door of their parent company based
in China from a Communist Party official” for the data to be sent to
the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He requested that TikTok executives testify
before the panel—nobody showed up.
Beijing-based ByteDance Technology Co., which owns TikTok, is facing a
national security review over its $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media
app Musical.ly in 2017.
“Current law makes it far too easy for
hostile foreign governments like China to access Americans’ sensitive
data,” Hawley said in a Nov. 18 statement. “Chinese companies with vast
amounts of personal data on Americans are required
by Chinese law to provide that data to Chinese intelligence
services.”
“If your child uses TikTok, there’s a chance the Chinese Communist Party
knows where they are, what they look like, what their voices sound like, and
what they’re watching,” he continued. “That’s a feature TikTok doesn’t
advertise.”
In TikTok’s letter to lawmakers, TikTok U.S. General Manager
Vanessa Pappas said the company stores all U.S. user data in the United States,
with backup redundancy in Singapore. While TikTok claims the Chinese regime
doesn’t have jurisdiction over the content of the app, lawmakers have noted
that ByteDance is governed by Chinese laws.
Hawley said U.S. companies operating in China also have these risks, as
Chinese law allows the communist regime to seize data from American companies
operating in China “whenever it wants, for whatever reason it wants.” The
legislation names China and Russia specifically over concerns relating
to data privacy and security.
In order to enter the Chinese market, some American companies agree
to give sensitive data to Beijing in exchange. FBI Director
Christopher Wray testified that Chinese law “compels U.S. companies that
are operating in China … to provide whatever information the government wants,
whenever it wants.”
“We should expect foreign surveillance
efforts from China to use platforms like TikTok because they are more modern
and attract a younger, easily influenceable crowd,” Charity Wright, a
cyber threat intelligence adviser at IntSights with 15 years of experience with
the U.S. Army and the National Security Agency, told The Epoch Times
earlier this month.
The Chinese communist regime has representatives in almost every large
company in China, Wright said. The concerns over TikTok come amid broader
anxiety over forced technology transfers from U.S. companies to Chinese
authorities and intellectual property theft.
Over the past 12 months, TikTok has been
downloaded more than 750 million times, according to research firm
Sensor Tower; which is
more than new users of Facebook, Youtube, or Snapchat in the same time period.
In the first quarter of this year, TikTok was the most downloaded application worldwide on the app store.
No comments:
Post a Comment