Sen. Cruz on Fox News: China’s Medical Censorship is ‘Threat to National Security & Global Health’

HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday, appeared on Fox News' ‘The Story with Martha MacCallum' to discuss his legislation to sanction Chinese officials responsible for censoring whistleblowers and suppressing the sort of medical information that could have prevented the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan from becoming a global pandemic.

WATCH: CRUZ on Fox News: China's Censorship Direct Threat to U.S. National Security, Public Health

Highlighting the catastrophic consequences of China's censorship and suppression, Sen. Cruz said:

"China has long been the most significant geopolitical threat the United States faces. And the Communist government there engages in oppression, engages in torture of its citizens. We have always viewed it as a human rights offense when they censor and silence free speech. We have now seen that it is not just a human rights threat but it's also a threat to national security and global health."

Sen. Cruz went on to say that the Chinese officials involved in hiding the initial outbreak in Wuhan must be held accountable for endangering millions of lives and measures have to be taken against those actively censoring now:

"When it comes to this Wuhan outbreak, the Chinese Communist government has direct responsibility, direct culpability for silencing, for covering it up. When you had brave physician whistle-blowers blowing the whistle, the Chinese government came down on them, they silenced them. They did everything they could to keep it quiet. Had they acted promptly, there may well have been a possibility this could have been contained as a regional outbreak. Instead, it became a global pandemic. And the lives lost, many of those are directly at China's doorstep.

"I [announced] legislation ... to sanction Chinese officials that are engaged and actively censoring and silencing public health information that endangers the lives of Americans and people across the globe."

He added:

"I think the United States, I think the world community needs to insist on accountability and consequences for China's responsibility here."

Discussing the need to de-couple from China and bring more of our pharmaceutical and medical supply chain back home, Sen. Cruz said:

"I also think we need to reassess China's role in our supply chain. Far too much of our medical products, our pharmaceuticals, are manufactured in China and they threaten the lives of Americans, cutting off vital medicines. We need to bring critical infrastructure back to the United States of America."

Toward that end, Sens. Cruz and Chris Coons (D-Del.) today announced their intention to press for a $12 million appropriation in the upcoming Phase 4 / CARES 2 bill to enhance partnerships between companies in the United States and Israel to develop innovative medical projects aimed at detecting, treating, and curing COVID-19. Upon announcing the initiative, Sen. Cruz said:

"I've long said that China poses the most significant, long-term geopolitical threat to the United States. Our dependence on China for life-saving medications and treatments is deeply problematic. Israel is not only our friend and ally, but also a global leader in medicine with which we already cooperate on exactly those issues. I'm proud to push forward to ensure both American and Israeli companies can work together to develop cures and treatments to defeat COVID-19."

Learn more about the initiative here.

Learn more about Sen. Cruz's legislation to sanction Chinese officials for censorship and medical cover ups that helped fuel the coronavirus pandemic, click here.

For COVID-19 information and additional resources, visit www.cruz.senate.gov/coronavirus/.

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