The scenario is not that hard to picture: in several years this nation is faced with another crisis, whether economic, national security-related, or in public health again. Then an important material we need to fight the crisis is only available from one place. What if that place is China, or Iran, or North Korea?

Not going to happen? Where did several states go to get personal protective equipment (PPEs), items they now know do not work, for this crisis? China. As American manufacturing wandered out of this country it took with it not only cars and consumer goods, but supplies America needs to remain a secure and independent republic. Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy of California wants this irresponsible practice to end.

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“We don’t make aspirin. We don’t make penicillin. This is what China has done,” said McCarthy. “They have gone in to take the critical minerals away… They control 70 percent of the ingredients that go into generics and others. And what they do is, if a company opens up, they flood the market [and] put the private sector out… So it’s not just bringing the companies back, but having them maintain themselves. Part of that is having a modernized stockpile inside America, so [companies] can have it in America but [be] able to control it.”

McCarthy concluded: “They [China] tried to control the market when it came to the personal protection equipment, the masks, the gowns and others. They wanted to hoard that before the world would find out. Why would we ever put ourselves in this place again? And what’s the most concerning to me? The Democrats have no power, no plan to hold China responsible.”

The GOP leader also had choice words for his Senate counterpart: “How can Schumer say that [defend China] by representing New York? There is no greater state that should realize what China has done to their own citizens, his own constituents. How many people have died because [of] what China did?”