Ami Bera: “I thank my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the…”

“I thank my good friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the select committee on China and to support this select committee on China. These past two Congresses I have had the privilege of being the chairman on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I have worked very closely with my ranking member, Steve Chabot--a good friend whom we are going to miss--but I also served as ranking member when Mr. Chabot was chairman on that committee. We learned a lot on how we should approach China. We have looked at supply chains. We have traveled to the region. We have talked to our partners in southeast Asia and ASEAN. We have understood the vulnerabilities. Our subcommittee had the first hearing on the novel coronavirus back in February of 2020 when we didn't have a name on it. So we understand the importance, as a doctor, of understanding the origins of COVID, where it came and how we can best prevent the next pandemic. None of those questions are ones that we should be looking at and bickering about as Democratic or Republican questions. Those are questions that just make a lot of sense to our security, our economic strength, and where we go from here. So I applaud the Speaker's comments on wanting this to be an American strategy, not a Democratic or Republican strategy.…”