Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) warned that relying on China and other nations for pharmaceutical manufacturing puts the country at the mercy of actors around the world, especially as the country grapples with the COVID-19/coronavirus threat.

The Tennessee U.S. Senator argued for bipartisan legislative efforts in the Senate that could end the nation’s reliance on China for certain pharmaceutical products.

“I have my legislation, the [Securing America’s Medicine Cabinet (SAM-C) Act] bill, and it’s why I’ve been talking about China and dealing with them, whether it’s technology or pharmaceuticals. And Senator [Bob] Menendez and I have the SAM-C bill, and it would incentivize bringing that production back,” Blackburn said. “You also have Senators [Marco] Rubio and [Tom] Cotton that have bills. We’re looking at combining these efforts and getting this back.”

“I said we should call it the Make America Manufacturer Again, that legislation, and get people producing these items that we need,” she continued. “It is — and, Maria, this is so aggravating to people. You need an active pharmaceutical ingredient. China has that. They’re the sole manufacturer. You need it for a compound that will work against coronavirus or so many other things, and they will not release that compound. So let’s look at this as a national security issue, a health security issue. Let’s bring this manufacturing back to the USA.”

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