Democrats Block Sen. Rick Scott's Bill Stopping Purchase of Chinese-Made COVID Tests with Taxpayer Dollars

February 2, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott asked for unanimous consent on the Senate floor to pass his No Taxpayer Dollars for Communist Chinese COVID Tests Act, a bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to purchase at-home tests for COVID-19 that are imported from, or manufactured in, Communist China. Senator Scott and Senator Roger Marshall introduced this bill following the Biden administration’s purchase of $1.28 billion worth of COVID-19 at-home tests from iHealth Labs Inc., a unit of Andon Health Co., a medical device manufacturer headquartered in Communist China. Senate Democrats blocked its passage.

 

In January, after the Biden administration announced they would purchase at-home COVID-19 tests to distribute to American households, Senator Scott sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the administration to prioritize purchasing COVID-19 tests from American manufacturers and to not import tests from Communist China.

 

Senator Rick Scott said, “It is imperative that the federal government do everything in its power to complete our public health mission in a cost-effective manner that prioritizes support for domestic manufacturing. Unfortunately, instead of supporting American manufacturing, the Biden administration is handing nearly $1.3 billion of taxpayer funds to a company in Communist China. The Biden administration’s willingness to fund the Communist Chinese economy, instead of the American economy, is a disgrace. And Senate Democrats’ decision to block my bill to support American jobs so that they can cover for the president’s failure is a dereliction of duty and a shameful choice to again appease Communist China.”

 

Senator Roger Marshall said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed just how reliant our country is on medical supplies from China. Under President Biden, minimal actions have been taken to bring this manufacturing back to the United States and instead this administration is now sending taxpayer money to China for millions of COVID tests. We should be investing in American manufacturing and creating jobs at home instead of continuing to fund the CCP, particularly when their obstruction to uncover the origins of this virus’ outbreak is ongoing.”

 

See more HERE or in the video below.

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