Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in December of 2019, as a new virus was emerging on the opposite side of the world, I spoke at the National Defense University, and the title of the speech I gave was called ``American Industrial Policy and the Rise of China.'' The reaction of many people to that at the time was skepticism--from Wall Street investors who, frankly, saw no problem with the status quo on China; from these think-tank experts who mocked my claim at the time that our country relied too much on China economically in our supply chain; and from tech giants in Silicon Valley obsessed with access to the Chinese marketplace. But the problem I pointed to at that time in that speech, almost 2 years ago--a year and a half ago--was that for over a quarter century, our economic policies have been mostly about one thing: how American investors and companies can make money by doing business with China. In that vein, it didn't matter if making money meant allowing China to steal our intellectual property, it didn't matter if making money meant stable American jobs kept disappearing, and it didn't matter if making money meant investing in Chinese companies developing technologies to help defeat our country in a future war. Finally, Americans are waking up to what a mistake that was. It was a bipartisan consensus that was flawed. The 21st century will be defined by the relationship between China and the United States.…”