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This week, I introduced legislation to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) or any other teaching methodology that promotes or causes a racial divide or lack of unity in the military.
I'm proud to represent every branch of the military, military families, and many great veterans in the First District of Georgia. Our service members are the best among us. The brave members of the military put their lives on the line for our country and they should be focused on mission readiness and unity. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is forcing radical teachings on them that promote division.
I introduced this legislation to ensure our military members can focus on their mission, not the agenda of the radical Left.
We discuss this and more in this episode of Buddy's Briefing.
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| WHY DOES BIDEN WANT TO HELP CHINA? |
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In case you missed it, I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Examiner this week about the need to investigate the origins of COVID-19 and the need for President Biden to get tough on China.
Why does Biden want to help China?
When President Joe Biden delivered his address to Congress, he promised to protect American jobs and bring foreign manufacturing, particularly from China, back to the United States. But in another move to appease socialist Democrats and the most extreme members of his party, Biden announced support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines under the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
There is no doubt the U.S. and American companies have an important role to play in expanding vaccine production to meet the global need. However, rather than increasing vaccine supply to other countries, this disastrous proposal will harm innovation and prove to be counterproductive in our fight against the pandemic.
For more than two centuries, the U.S. has led the world in innovation thanks to our patent system. IP protections have strengthened the U.S. economy, created millions of good jobs, and made our country the world leader in the development of cutting-edge diagnostics, treatments, and cures. In fact, the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry funds nearly half of the entire world’s medical research and development.
It was because of this U.S.-led investment and former President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed that several groundbreaking COVID-19 vaccines were authorized in less than a year, which many doubted was feasible. As we near herd immunity and fully reopen, we must continue to help the rest of the world, but Biden’s proposal will not increase vaccine supply.
These vaccines require highly sophisticated manufacturing facilities with specialized equipment and trained employees. It would take years for other countries to construct fully operational manufacturing facilities. We would then be faced with the prospect of having a large supply of complex vaccines being produced and distributed by unqualified manufacturers with little or no regulatory oversight.
Additionally, it is very likely that these foreign countries would also use the knowledge they gained from our COVID-19 vaccines to make other, unrelated medical products designed to compete directly with the U.S. Specifically, this cutting edge technology would be a gift to China as it seeks to overtake the United States in numerous areas, including biotechnology.
The Chinese government has made it clear through the "Made in China 2025" plan that it intends to challenge American biopharmaceutical innovation and manufacturing. This would be done largely through IP theft, cyberintrusions, and the infiltration of Communist Party sympathizers into U.S. biopharmaceutical research labs. According to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, the Chinese government has been engaged in a sophisticated and wide-ranging effort to steal U.S. COVID-19 vaccine research over the past year, particularly the mRNA technology used to develop some of the latest vaccines.
With the decision to move forward with these waivers, Biden would be helping China compete against our own country. The last thing America should do is hand gifts to China, especially as it continues to stonewall investigations into the origins of the coronavirus.
There must be a full scientific investigation into what got us to the point of needing a lifesaving vaccine in the first place. That includes fully understanding the Chinese government’s involvement and knowledge of the outbreak.
The evidence is increasingly pointing to the Wuhan Institute of Virology as the source of COVID-19. As recently revealed by the Wall Street Journal, several lab researchers fell ill with COVID-19-consistent symptoms just weeks before the pandemic was internationally realized.
Despite worldwide pressure, China has blocked access for international investigators to the Wuhan Institute of Virology labs. This comes as no surprise, though, after it hid the extent of the pandemic from the international community as the coronavirus wildly spread to other countries in early 2020. Even the China-influenced WHO has called for more investigations into the lab leak origin theory.
Why would America knowingly give China advanced biopharmaceutical technology when it lied about a deadly pandemic that cost American lives and jobs? China has spent the past year trying to mislead the world, even going so far as to blame the U.S. for developing and leaking COVID-19.
Instead of giving new opportunities to China, Biden should work with Congress, industry, and other governments to increase the supply and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide and rescind this disastrous proposal. We must increase access to vaccines while protecting our long and storied history of protecting IP to spur innovation.
Biden must get tough on China. American innovation and the health and welfare of the world are at stake.
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| from our nation's capitol CCCXVI |
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Monday, June 7, 2021: My week starts off with a live interview on Newsmax this morning as we talk about Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to Guatemala as well as this past weekend’s Georgia GOP Convention held at Jekyll Island. A link to my interview can be found here. Next, I head to our Savannah District Office where I join in on our all staff conference call before meeting with a constituent who shares with me her concerns regarding climate change. Afterwards, I have a meeting with Rick Molina with Encompass Health in Savannah as we review health care issues currently being discussed in Congress including the IMPACT Act from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Next, I join in on an Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee member virtual discussion with Demetrios Kouzoukas, former director of the Center for Medicare at CMS as we talk about transparency, innovation and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Buddy meeting with Equinox Global Ministries |
Next, I have a virtual call with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Joseph Cuffari who is at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynn County this week for a visit. Afterwards, I have a meeting with my good friends Jeremy Davis and Clay Johnson from Equinox Global Ministries to learn more about the great work they are doing in using their musical talents to spread joy to so many people in our community and country. Next, I record a video for the Georgia Climate Conference to be held in August and hosted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). My last meeting of the day is a virtual call with the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) as we discuss unemployment reform, including the disincentives to work and fraud issues.
Wednesday, June 9, 2021: Yesterday, I had another live interview on Newsmax and this time we discussed the “Fire Fauci” legislation that I have co-sponsored as a result of emails that have been discovered of the Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, trying to cover up the origin of the COVID-19 virus. A link to that interview can be found here.
Buddy appears on Newsmax |
This morning, I join in on a Budget Committee hearing where we hear from acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young as we discuss the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget. A link to my questions can be found here. Next, I join in on an E&C Oversight and Investigations (O&I) Subcommittee hearing on the treatment that unaccompanied children are receiving at the southern border. A link to my questions can be found here. Afterwards, I join in on an Appropriations Committee hearing as they are hosting member day and allowing each member to discuss funding proposals from their district. Because we have every branch of the military represented in our district, it is important for me to remind members of the needs of our military installations in the district. A link to my testimony can be found here. Next, I have an interview with Fox 28 TV in Savannah as we discuss the “Fire Fauci” legislation that I am cosponsoring. Later, I have an E&C member call to discuss our committee mark up to be held tomorrow.
Thursday, June 10, 2021: This morning I join in with other members of the Georgia Congressional delegation as we are given an update by representatives from Colonial Pipeline Company, headquartered in Alpharetta, GA, and recently subjected to a cyberattack. Next, I join in on an E&C full committee markup that lasts for five full hours and where we discuss five pieces of legislation. Unfortunately, three of these bills are partisan in nature and generate quite a bit of discussion and proposed amendments. In the end, of course, the majority party is successful in passing all of these bills.
Friday, June 11, 2021: This morning I have the honor of being the keynote speaker at the virtual Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) ACT legislative conference as I bring them up to date on pharmacy and health care issues currently being discussed in Congress. Next, I head to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah where I film this week’s edition of Buddy’s Briefing. Afterwards, I join in on a Select Committee on Climate Change hearing on building climate resilient communities. A link to my questions can be found here. |
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