Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that decades of policies rooted in socialism have stifled United States domestic pharmaceutical drug manufacturing and left the United States exposed to the hostile actions and unfair trade practices of the People's Republic of China.
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance

Summary:
This resolution commits to the use of competitive free market and free trade policies to combat national security threats caused by China and its attacks on the U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing base.
The resolution urges the United States to (1) remove tax, regulatory, and debt burdens and barriers that have weakened this base; (2) empower the U.S. Trade Representative to take specified actions to counter harmful and unfair trade practices by China; (3) address shortcomings in Food and Drug Administration data collection related to foreign-sourced pharmaceutical ingredients; and (4) identify and streamline regulatory hurdles that have impeded the U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing base.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 280 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 280

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that decades of 
   policies rooted in socialism have stifled United States domestic 
pharmaceutical drug manufacturing and left the United States exposed to 
the hostile actions and unfair trade practices of the People's Republic 
                               of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2021

Mr. Jackson (for himself, Mr. Banks, Mr. C. Scott Franklin of Florida, 
Ms. Herrell, Mr. Mast, Mr. Baird, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Hice of Georgia, Ms. 
     Salazar, Mr. McClintock, and Mr. Roy) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and 
   in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Energy and 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that decades of 
   policies rooted in socialism have stifled United States domestic 
pharmaceutical drug manufacturing and left the United States exposed to 
the hostile actions and unfair trade practices of the People's Republic 
                               of China.

Whereas until the recent enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the United 
        States had one of the least competitive tax systems in the world, 
        causing decades of manufacturing job losses and increased offshoring of 
        vital industries;
Whereas the over $2,000,000,000,000 of annual economic output lost due to the 
        cost imposed by Federal regulatory action would, by itself, be the 15th 
        largest economy;
Whereas the crushing $28,000,000,000,000 Federal debt has drained United States 
        credit markets, starving Americans and American businesses of needed 
        funding to expand operations and modernize factories;
Whereas the left has, for decades, sought to expand these burdens and barriers 
        of the Federal Government to promote its radical agenda, depleting 
        America of its industrial base;
Whereas the pharmaceutical industry has been particularly affected by the 
        negative effects of these anticompetitive socialist policies, driving up 
        prices and forcing private industry to offshore manufacturing processes;
Whereas the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak compounded national security 
        and public health concerns and highlighted potential vulnerabilities 
        regarding the American health care system's reliance on foreign nations, 
        particularly China, for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals;
Whereas the Communist Chinese regime has sought to take advantage of these 
        burdens and use its own tariffs, subsidies, and anticompetitive policies 
        to gain a comparative advantage in the manufacturing of active 
        pharmaceutical ingredients;
Whereas, in September 2018, the Department of Defense published a study titled 
        ``Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial 
        Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States'', which 
        identified several national security risks associated with China's 
        anticompetitive, protectionist trade policies;
Whereas the 2018 National Defense Strategy clearly states that the central 
        challenge to the prosperity, security, and success of the United States 
        is China's authoritarian model and long-term strategic competition;
Whereas China is also leveraging military modernization and predatory economics 
        to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to its advantage and to displace the 
        United States in its efforts for global dominance;
Whereas, in October 2019, the Food and Drug Administration testified that China 
        has increased production of active pharmaceutical ingredients over the 
        past decade, driven by industry desire for cost-savings and less 
        stringent regulatory structures;
Whereas in that testimony, the Food and Drug Administration noted that current 
        data capabilities leave gaps in understanding the exact volume of 
        foreign-sourced active pharmaceutical ingredients being used for 
        domestic drugs, the volume being produced at Chinese facilities, and 
        where Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients are being distributed 
        worldwide;
Whereas China intends to continue using United States self-imposed economic 
        constraints to push the United States out of global affairs and to 
        dismantle the free market structures that have lead to unprecedented 
        global prosperity;
Whereas the threat imposed by China is dependent on the United States continuing 
        decades of domestic policies that have stifled development and crippled 
        the United States manufacturing base; and
Whereas the people and industries of the United States possess the skillsets, 
        tools, and innovative spirit to restore the United States pharmaceutical 
        manufacturing base and to fully counter the unfair and anticompetitive 
        practices of the Communist Chinese regime: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commits to the competitive free market and free trade 
        policies that allowed the United States to become the 
        wealthiest and most advanced Nation on Earth;
            (2) commits to combating, through the use of free market 
        policies, the present national security threat caused by the 
        Communist Chinese regime and its attacks on the United States 
        pharmaceutical manufacturing base; and
            (3) urges the United States Government to--
                    (A) remove the Federal tax, regulatory, and debt 
                burdens and barriers that have weakened the United 
                States pharmaceutical manufacturing base;
                    (B) empower the United States Trade Representative 
                to call on the international community, to adopt 
                competitive free trade and free market policies, and to 
                counter the harmful and unfair trade practices of the 
                Communist Chinese regime;
                    (C) address shortcomings in Food and Drug 
                Administration data collection to better understand the 
                exact nature of United States reliance on foreign-
                sourced advanced pharmaceutical ingredients; and
                    (D) identify and streamline Food and Drug 
                Administration regulatory hurdles that have stifled the 
                United States pharmaceutical manufacturing base and 
                that have promoted foreign supply lines and offshoring 
                United States industry.
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