WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) yesterday joined The Ingraham Angle on Fox News to discuss the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which he co-sponsored with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
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Partial Transcript
Hagerty on preventing the import of goods made by slave labor: “As you said, Laura, Senator [Marco] Rubio has put legislation together. I joined him in co-sponsoring that legislation to prevent companies here in America from buying products that were made with forced slave labor there—the Uyghur population in Xinjang, China. Senator Wyden decided to block this. They’ve blocked so many other things. And what you find out is that companies in his state, and frankly companies across America, are benefiting from this. This bill that we put forward—and I believe it will be signed by President [Joe] Biden—will prevent that. […] And what we have is an opportunity to stop importation and stop the encouragement of slave labor with this legislation. It should have certainly been passed long ago and the time has come.”
Hagerty on how to deal with Communist China: “To be clear, Laura, I’m for more oversight over this Administration by the Congress. But in this case, I think you have many who have felt like they should deal with China as they hope they are, rather than as they actually conduct business. I view it from the other side of it. We need leverage to deal with China. They understand strength and power. They do not play by the same set of rules that we do. They steal intellectual property, as we mentioned. They use slave labor. They deeply subsidize their industries. It’s not a level playing field when it comes to China. And what we need to do is basically think back to where this all started—after World War II—the United States created very favorable trading terms with many countries. We should have time limited those terms, Laura, because now we have developed economies that are like our own, that have a uniquely un-level playing field with us. They have terms of trade that are far more favorable to them.”
Hagerty on dealing with Communist China from a position of strength: “It’s amazing. I think that the Biden Administration needs to wake up—again, not dealing with things as they wish they were, but understand what China really is. They’re our most strategic adversary, Laura, and they use tools and tactics that are beyond anything that we ever consider as fair here in the United States. We need to be dealing from a position of strength. Back to trade, I don’t think we need to do any sort of unilateral disarmament. Take leverage off the table. We need to stand tough with China at every turn.”