Sen. Marco Rubio: It's time to fire John Kerry, Biden's ethically challenged climate czar
President Biden has a choice: stand by the man profiting from slave labor or fire him
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sometimes the most obvious explanation is the right one.
For weeks, rumors have swirled in Washington about President Joe Biden’s climate czar John Kerry and his opposition to taking concrete action against the Chinese Communist Party’s use of slave labor. Now, we may have an answer about his reluctance to take action: according to a new report, Kerry and his wife have at least $1 million invested in a Chinese investment group called Hillhouse China Value Fund L.P.
That fact alone raises serious questions as to whether Kerry can negotiate in good faith with Beijing on climate change but it gets worse. According to the report, Hillhouse is a "top shareholder" in a Chinese technology company called YITU Technology, which was blacklisted by the Trump administration in 2019 for being complicit in the surveillance, detention, and repression of Uyghurs and others. In other words, Kerry appears to be profiting from slave labor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2021, file photo Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Now it makes sense why he is actively working against my Uyghur Forced Labor Act, which would make it impossible for products made with slave labor in Xinjiang, China to be imported into the United States. Kerry has been working against my legislation, and has convinced President Joe Biden to stay silent on the bill.
President Biden now has a choice: stand by the man profiting from slave labor or fire him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It should be an easy choice, but the Biden administration and some Democrats are so desperate for a climate deal with the Chinese Communist Party that they are willing to ignore the regime’s use of slave labor.
We’ve seen this playbook before. What Biden is doing is not so very different from the nationless corporations that supported his campaign. Companies including Nike, Apple, and Amazon benefit from slave labor or sourcing from suppliers that do. It is why they previously fought against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This is how they do business — and in their view, business is always more important than ending literal slavery or advancing U.S. national interests.
Biden needs to decide where he stands and who he is fighting for. Right now, his silence is deafening, and it is giving cover to the Marxists in both America and in China.
But this is not a partisan issue, or at least it shouldn’t be.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SEN. MARCO RUBIO: BIDEN'S CLIMATE PLAN BENEFITS CHINA – HERE'S HOW POLICY HURTS US, BOOSTS BEIJING
Earlier this month, the AFL-CIO -- the largest group of unions in the United States and whose leadership overwhelmingly supported the Biden-Harris ticket – said, "corporations should not be allowed to profit from this egregious exploitation, and working people in the United States must never be subject to competition with companies that use forced labor as part of their production model."
The AFL-CIO also rejected the "false choices between protecting our common future and protecting the human rights of workers wherever we may be." That is a line aimed squarely at John Kerry, who said life is "full of tough choices" when asked why he was focused only on climate.
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Kerry is not alone, though. Some Senate Democrats are lobbying to remove sanctions that are in place on certain solar components coming directly or indirectly from China. As the AFL-CIO noted, slave labor "is known to pervade the global solar energy industry" in China.
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Nothing is going right for President Biden or our nation lately. Gas prices are surging. Groceries are more expensive. Supply chains are bottlenecked. Divisive Marxist policies are tearing our communities apart. We’ve been embarrassed on the world stage thanks to Biden’s Afghanistan debacle. And now, the president’s top climate adviser is profiting from slave labor.
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The AFL-CIO called "on the Biden administration to take the commonsense actions." The first step is to fire John Kerry as climate czar. And then, instead of relying on a genocidal regime that hates America, the Biden administration should focus on building up domestic production to create good jobs in America.
Biden needs to decide where he stands and who he is fighting for. Right now, his silence is deafening, and it is giving cover to the Marxists in both America and in China. Meanwhile, American workers and families continue to suffer.
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