As the coronavirus continues to pose a threat to the United States and the globe, lawmakers continue to press for actions against China, citing their mishandling of the virus along with the spread of misinformation as factors that have put the world at great risk. With numerous legislations being introduced to hold the Chinese Communist government accountable, Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) is now commenting on China’s production of pharmaceuticals and the role that U.S. territories could play in the matter.
At a recent academia, Rubio said that the United States needs “more domestic capabilities in that field, as this recent pandemic has proven.” Specifically, Rubio believes that “we need to improve our own domestic capabilities, as I think you’re going to see a growing amount of biomedical nationalism around the world because countries have faced the abyss of running out of materials and are going to look for ways to be able to produce more by themselves.”
Moreover, he added that “we’re going to have to have that same capability, but also because it produces great jobs.” And, “it would also help with Puerto Rico’s economic recovery, by producing high paying jobs available to the graduates in Puerto Rico and those who see to return from the mainland and back to the island.”
Noting that “it fits a need that our country has, and it also helps to deal with the need to help Puerto Rico recover economically after a financial crisis, two terrible storms, and an earthquake,” Rubio concluded that “it’s been a tough five years.”
In the “third pillar” of “The Great American Comeback Plan,” Florida Rep. Ross Spano (R) has voiced his support for ending the United States’ reliance on China for the production of pharmaceuticals, expressing that “the Chinese Socialist Party will stop at nothing to eclipse our power and influence around the world” and that “we cannot be dependent upon them.”
