Josh
Hawley Proposes to Hold Chinese Accountable for Coronavirus Outbreak
1
Chip
Somodevilla/Getty Images
14 Apr 202014
2:25
Sen.
Josh Hawley (R-MO) proposed legislation on Tuesday that would open up the
Chinese government to litigation in American courts for its failure to contain
the coronavirus outbreak.
Hawley introduced the Justice for Victims of COVID-19 Act, which
would eliminate China’s sovereign immunity and create a private right of action
against the Chinese government for gagging whistleblowers and withholding
critical information regarding the coronavirus. Hawley’s legislation would also
create a Justice for Victims of COVID-19 Task Force at the State Department to
lead an international investigation into China’s handling of the pandemic and
to obtain compensation from the Chinese.
He said in a statement on Tuesday:
There is overwhelming evidence that the Chinese Communist
Party’s lies, deceit, and incompetence caused COVID-19 to transform from a
local disease outbreak into a global pandemic. We need an international
investigation to learn the full extent of the damage the CCP
has inflicted on the world and then we need to empower Americans and
other victims around the world to recover damages. The CCP unleashed this
pandemic. They must be held accountable to their victims.
The Justice for Victims of COVID-19 Act would:
- Make
the Chinese government liable for civil claims in U.S. courts by
establishing a private right of action.
- Allow
courts to freeze the Chinese government so victims can enforce their
claims.
Hawley also recently introduced the Li Weliang Global Health
Public Health Accountability Act with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to allow sanctions
against foreign officials who suppress information about international public
health crises.
Hawley’s legislation follows as other lawmakers have also called
to hold China accountable for spreading the coronavirus.
Rep. Lance
Gooden (R-TX) unveiled the Stop
China-Originated Viral Infectious Disease (COVID) Act of 2020, or the Stop
COVID Act, which would amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to
allow the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the origins of the
coronavirus pandemic and let the DOJ file claims against the Chinese Communist
Party in the United States.
Sean
Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
What China Has Done to Starve U.S. Hospitals of Key Medical
Equipment is Unforgivable
China lied and people
died. In December, China ordered its scientists to destroy samples that showed
they had a pneumonia-like virus on their hands. They strong-armed doctors from
trying to spread the word, kept medical staff in the dark, and prevented new
cases of what we know was the Wuhan Coronavirus, or COVID-19, from being reported.
And now doctors who tried to raise awareness have vanished. Vloggers
documenting the situation on the ground have also disappeared. China allowed
Chinese New Year to be celebrated which led to scores of people being exposed.
In all, some 5 million people had left Wuhan by the time the Chinese government
got its act together. It was too late. And now, their incompetence caused this
pandemic.
The world economy has
ground to a halt. And while we’re dealing with this nonsense, China has also
reportedly tried to corner the market on personal protection equipment which is
essential for health care workers around the world. The Trump administration is
fully aware of the situation and is mulling legal action. The New York Post quoted
one senior lawyer said China’s actions concerning this alleged hoarding is akin
to a first-degree murder charge (via NY
Post):
Leading US manufacturers
of medical safety gear told the White House that China prohibited them from
exporting their products from the country as the coronavirus pandemic mounted —
even as Beijing was trying to “corner the world market” in personal protective
equipment, The Post has learned.
Now, the Trump
administration is weighing legal action against China over its alleged actions,
a lawyer for President Trump said Sunday.
“In criminal law,
compare this to the levels that we have for murder,” said Jenna Ellis, a senior
legal adviser to Trump’s re-election campaign.
“People are dying. When
you have intentional, cold-blooded, premeditated action like you have with
China, this would be considered first-degree murder.”
Ellis said the options
under consideration include filing a complaint with the European Court of Human
Rights or working “through the United Nations.”
Executives from 3M and
Honeywell told US officials that the Chinese government in January began
blocking exports of N95 respirators, booties, gloves and other supplies
produced by their factories in China, according to a senior White House
official.
China paid the
manufacturers their standard wholesale rates, but prohibited the vital items
from being sold to anyone else, the official said.
Around the same time
that China cracked down on PPE exports, official data posted online shows that
it imported 2.46 billion pieces of “epidemic prevention and control materials”
between Jan. 24 and Feb. 29, the White House official said.
[…]
Michael
Wessell, a founding member of the federal US-China Economic and Security Review
Commission, confirmed the situation and said the Chinese maneuvering had left
American hospitals “starved of PPE to fight this crisis.”
U.S. companies are finding out they don't
own their own factories in China. When they tried to export THEIR medical
equipment, the Chinese government stopped them: https://nypost.com/2020/04/05/trump-admin-weighs-legal-action-over-alleged-chinese-hoarding-of-ppe/ … @nypost
Trump admin weighs legal action over alleged
Chinese hoarding of PPE
This is insane.
U.S. companies with factories in China have tried to export medical supplies to
the United States,
Only for the goods to be stopped from being sent by the Chinese government.
We must end our dependency on China!
RT!
Far past time to disentangle and
restructure vital U.S. supply chains.https://nationalinterest.org/feature/pandemic-problem-americas-supply-chains-are-dangerously-brittle-134022 …
U.S. companies with factories in China have tried to export medical supplies to the United States,
Only for the goods to be stopped from being sent by the Chinese government.
We must end our dependency on China!
RT!
Pandemic Problem: America's Supply Chains are
Dangerously Brittle
As of today, U.S.
deaths from Wuhan coronavirus infection are rapidly approaching 10,000. There
are over 336,000 cases, most of which reside in New York City and the tri-state
area. President Trump and his Wuhan virus task force have worked hard to
increase testing and create better models that are currently being shipped out.
Ventilators are now being manufactured as quickly as possible. Distilleries are
now making hand sanitizer. My Pillow is now shifting their production to medical
masks, making anywhere from 10,000-50,000 masks a day. American business has
answered the call. Retired army doctors have also answered the call. But it
makes it all the more maddening when we hear stories about how the Chinese are
just bo jangling around because they’re either West-averse or insufferably
greedy.
Josh
Hawley: Counter China’s Plans for Dominance by Ending ‘Forever Wars’
7 Apr 202020
2:34
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) wrote on
Tuesday that the only way America can counter Chinese domination is to end the
“forever wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hawley
said that the United States has focused more on the response to the coronavirus
outbreak than the country’s engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, he
charged that America cannot respond to the Chinese Communist Party’s plans for
“domination” by remaining involved in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Our
involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is currently taking a backseat to the #COVID19 crisis,
but let’s remember, the only way we are going to be able to focus on #China and
counter Beijing’s plans for domination is to end the forever wars,” Hawley wrote.
“Can’t have it both ways.”
Our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is
currently taking a backseat to the #COVID19
crisis, but let’s remember, the only way we are going to be able to focus on #China
and counter Beijing’s plans for domination is to end the forever wars. Can’t
have it both ways https://twitter.com/hawleymo/status/1247188890445910018 …
The
Missouri populist’s commentary follows as he said that the country must remain
“laser-focused” on preventing Chinese “domination.” He said that this proposal
will involve revamping America’s military posture towards countering an increasingly
aggressive China.
China
understands that the global pandemic is an inflection point. They are trying to
turn this to their advantage. Make no mistake, they are still pursuing their
global strategic ambitions. The need for us to laser focus on China’s economic
and military ambitions is going to be more urgent once we beat this pandemic,
not less.
Hawley’s
commentary echoes his foreign policy vision, which he unveiled in
November 2019 at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The senator’s
foreign policy vision would replace the bipartisan foreign consensus that he
called “progressive universalism” with a foreign policy that would benefit the
interests of the American working class.
Hawley
said that the “burden of this nation’s long wars had fallen disproportionately”
on middle-class families.
He
said during his CNAS speech that instead of engaging in further conflict in the
Middle East, America should counter a rising and increasingly imperialist
China, which threatens the freedom of those in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He added
that China has increasingly deployed soft power to pressure American
corporations such as Disney and the NBA to “throw overboard free speech at the
first sign of Beijing’s commercial pressure.”
Hawley
said that “the point of American foreign policy should not be to remake the
world, but to keep Americans safe and prosperous.”
US Lawmakers Call for Full
Investigation Into China’s Pandemic Coverup
March 25, 2020 Updated: March 25, 2020
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik
(R-N.Y.) are calling for an international probe into how Beijing’s initial
handling of the ongoing virus outbreak may have endangered the United States
and the rest of the world.
In a
resolution introduced in both chambers on March 24, the lawmakers asked
Congress to condemn the Chinese regime for its coverup of the outbreak, which
“almost certainly” heightened the CCP virus’s rapid global spread, they
said.
Congress
should also quantify the damage of such acts on the health and economic being
of afflicted nations, the resolution stated.
CCP VIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE
The Epoch
Times uses “CCP virus” to
refer to the pathogen commonly known as novel coronavirus, because the Chinese
Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread
throughout China and create a global pandemic.
One of three
legislative proposals introduced that day to take aim at the Beijing regime,
the resolution also calls on the international community to design a mechanism
for the CCP to deliver compensation accordingly.
“It is time
for an international investigation into the role their coverup played in the
spread of this devastating pandemic,” Hawley said in a joint press release with Stefanik. “The CCP must be held to account for what the world
is now suffering.”
Media reports have
detailed how Chinese authorities censored critical information when the virus
first emerged in the city of Wuhan, located in Hubei province.
On Jan. 1,
Hubei health authorities ordered a
genomics testing company to stop virus testing, destroy all virus samples, and
to keep their findings a secret, according to an expose by Chinese media
Caixin.
Police tracked
down multiple doctors who voiced concerns about the virus on social media,
accusing them of spreading rumors and inciting public fear. Critics of Chinese
authorities’ outbreak response were summoned and
punished, and several outspoken citizen journalists disappeared after they tried to share firsthand videos from Wuhan.
On Jan. 13,
Thailand confirmed the first infection outside of China, a day before the World
Health Organization, citing Chinese investigations, announced that
there was “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.”
A University
of Southampton study,
currently in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, found that China could have
stopped up to 95 percent of the virus’s geographical spread had it enacted
containment measures earlier.
“There is no
doubt that China’s unconscionable decision to orchestrate an elaborate coverup
of the wide-ranging and deadly implications of coronavirus led to the death of
thousands of people, including hundreds of Americans and climbing,” Stefanik
said.
The resolution
also took note of how senior Chinese officials have tried to push the conspiracy theory that the virus originated in the United States.
“Since day
one, the Chinese Communist Party intentionally lied to the world about the
origin of this pandemic,” Hawley said.
On the same
day, Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) also introduced a bipartisan resolution to condemn the CCP for the outbreak coverup and disinformation.
Rep. Matt
Gaetz (R-Fla.), meanwhile, introduced a bill called “No Chinese Handouts in National Assistance Act” to prevent
any virus-related relief funds from flowing into China.
“Allowing
American taxpayers’ money to go to companies owned by the Communist Chinese
government is antithetical to our ‘America First’ agenda,” he said in a
statement.
Rep. Michael
McCaul (R-Texas) on Tuesday called the CCP’s handling of the outbreak “one of
the worst coverups in human history.”
“This is a
systematic whitewash of what the Communist Party has done in China,” he told
Fox News. He added that the virus “is now wreaking havoc all across the world,
costing not only the lives of people but economic chaos.”
For “the harm,
loss, and destruction their arrogance brought upon the rest of the world,”
Stefanik said, China will need to pay.
“Simply
put—China must, and will, be held accountable,” she said.
Josh
Hawley: Legislation ‘Necessary’ to Address Chinese Monopoly of U.S. Drug,
Medical Supplies
AFP/Getty Images
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
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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 …
'Appalling campaign of deceit': Missouri sues China over coronavirus
The state of Missouri filed a lawsuit against China and the Chinese Communist Party seeking repayment for damage caused by the coronavirus.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt confirmed the lawsuit to Fox News on Tuesday, citing "the enormous loss of life, human suffering, and economic turmoil" as the basis for the lawsuit. Since the outbreak began, Missouri has had 215 deaths and an economic loss totaling $44 billion.
"In Missouri, the impact of the virus is very real — thousands have been infected, and many have died. Families have been separated from dying loved ones, small businesses are shuttering their doors, and those living paycheck to paycheck are struggling to put food on their table," Schmitt said.
The lawsuit alleges that China is responsible for "repeated unlawful and unreasonable acts and omissions" that have interfered with "the lives, health, and safety of substantial numbers of Missouri residents, ruining lives and damaging the public order and economy of the State of Missouri."
In the lawsuit, Schmitt outlined accusations that China covered up the outbreak when it began in Wuhan last year and continued to push false or misleading data and research about the virus in a way that fueled the pandemic.
"An appalling campaign of deceit, concealment, misfeasance, and inaction by Chinese authorities unleashed this pandemic. During the critical weeks of the initial outbreak, Chinese authorities deceived the public, suppressed crucial information, arrested whistleblowers, denied human-to-human transmission in the face of mounting evidence, destroyed critical medical research, permitted millions of people to be exposed to the virus, and even hoarded personal protective equipment—thus causing a global pandemic that was unnecessary and preventable," the suit states.
Schmitt also highlighted recent reporting that revealed U.S. intelligence officials believe the coronavirus may have been accidentally carried out of a government laboratory in Wuhan and not transmitted after someone contracted the virus from a wet market, as Chinese officials first claimed.
Currently, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act forbids Americans from suing foreign governments. By listing the Chinese Communist Party in addition to the Republic of China, Schmitt hopes to sidestep the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act by suing the party that has full control over the country in addition to suing the government itself.
The state hopes that the lawsuit will force China to "cease engaging in the abnormally dangerous activities, reimburse the cost of the State's abatement efforts, and pay compensatory and other damages."
Several other groups have filed class action lawsuits against China over the coronavirus. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas have also introduced a bill that would allow Americans to sue the nation over the coronavirus.
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