McCarthy on push to bring supply chain back to US: 'Why would we ever put ourselves in this place again?'

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House Republicans push bill to bring manufacturing back from China

Insight from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joined "The Ingraham Angle" Tuesday to discuss proposed Republican legsislation to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. from China.

"We don't make aspirin. We don't make penicillin. This is what China has done," McCarthy said. "They have gone in to take the critical minerals away ... They control 70 percent of the ingredients that go into generics and others. And what they do is, if a company opens up, they flood the market [and] put the private sector out.

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"So it's not just bringing the companies back, but having them maintain themselves," McCarthy added. "Part of that is having a modernized stockpile inside America, so [companies] can have it in America but [be] able to control it."

McCarthy then turned to China's actions during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly the reported hoarding of medical supplies.

"They tried to control the market when it came to the personal protection equipment, the masks, the gowns and others. They wanted to hoard that before the world would find out," McCarthy said. "Why would we ever put ourselves in this place again? And what's the most concerning to me? The Democrats have no power, no plan to hold China responsible. They don't even have a plan to reconvene Congress."

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The congressman also ripped Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., for blaming President Trump rather than China for the toll of the pandemic.

"How can Schumer say that by representing New York? There is no greater state that should realize what China has done to their own citizens, his own constituents," McCarthy said. "How many people have died because what China did?