Sen. Hawley: Too Much of US Medical Supplies in China

Sen. Josh Hawley Wednesday called for an "all hands on deck" effort against the spread of coronavirus in the United States but slammed China for its "epic failure of leadership" in controlling the outbreak and said he is concerned about its effect on the U.S.-China medical supply chain. 

"My big concern is, when it comes to our vaccines and our antibiotics, too many of them are in China," the Missouri Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "This has happened over decades. Other administrations have let those drugs go to China (and) let those supply chains go to China. We need to bring them home."

Hawley said he would be introducing legislation on Wednesday to help bring the U.S. medical supply chains out of China and return them to the United States. 

"We're just going to have to step up our efforts," said Hawley. "There's no need to panic. There is [a] need to take every available precaution and every available step. I believe the administration will do that."

He said he applauds President Donald Trump's request for $2.5 billion in funding to help control the virus' spread in the United States, but warned that "we may need a lot more."

Hawley said he is sure, though, that Congress will allow the extra money if it is needed.
Meanwhile, he warned that the United States should not allow itself to get into a situation in which it depends on the Chinese for medications, including antibiotics. 

"This goes back to the fact that the Communist Chinese Party did not take the steps necessary to protect their own people and to protect the world," he said. "This is on them. It's an epic failure of leadership. Now we've got to take steps to protect our own people."

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