Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said he fully backs Sen. Lindsey Graham's introduction of a bill that would allow President Donald Trump to implement a wide range of sanctions on the Chinese government if it refuses to cooperate with an international probe into the origins of the coronavirus.
The Georgia congressman told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday a House version of his Republican colleague's Senate legislation was being worked on for sanctions that would include asset freezes, travel bans and regulations forbidding American institutions from providing loans to Chinese businesses.
"China deceived the world while people were dying," Collins said. "They were taking precautions inside their own borders while yet letting people go internationally."
The representative stressed, "The Chinese officials who did this, they need to be in a position where they can be sanctioned, where their assets are frozen. Those are the kind of things we'll look at in this bill. We also need to be able to make sure that there is now accountability for this."
In addition, Collins said the legislation will also increase standards for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals in China, saying "Things that are manufactured there need to come up to the same standard as we see here. This is a bill that I am proud to partner with."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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