Clay Higgins Condemns Cheap, Foreign-Made Products Subsidized By ‘Communism,’ Child Labor

Forbes Breaking News

During Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) spoke about the need to strengthen the United States’ industrial base.

Transcript

00:00It's Mr. Higgins from Louisiana for five minutes.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:04Mr. Bishop, from your perspective,

00:06what happens to the sovereignty of a nation

00:08when it loses its industrial base?

00:16Well, that's a softball question, I feel like.

00:21I mean, it is, and I appreciate it.

00:23It's set up for hard work.

00:24I imagine.

00:26No, and I'm slightly joking

00:28because you would think it'd be an obvious answer,

00:31but it seems like over many decades,

00:33no one has taken this as a softball question.

00:35It has either not taken it seriously

00:38or has come to the wrong conclusion.

00:39So clearly you concur that the sovereignty

00:44of a powerful nation will gradually disintegrate

00:48with the gradual loss of its industrial base.

00:55You cannot have one without the other.

00:57You cannot have one without the other.

00:58There you go.

00:59So the loss of American industrial base

01:04largely to China.

01:05Let's just talk about China.

01:09Would you concur that there's been

01:11some perceived price advantage

01:14for products on the shelves,

01:17that this has been a foundational,

01:20like, driving factor?

01:22Setting aside the details,

01:23basically people want more stuff and cheaper stuff, right?

01:26That would certainly have been the driving narrative.

01:27Clearly.

01:28So the price advantage,

01:30is that the result of the price advantage

01:33from goods manufactured in China

01:36and transported across the ocean

01:37to American ends up on American shelves?

01:40Is that price advantage?

01:42In some way,

01:43is that price advantage

01:44the result of some combination

01:46of subsidized endeavors from communists,

01:53child labor and slave labor?

01:55All of the above.

01:56All of the above.

01:58So there you go, America.

02:01I want you to think about this.

02:04Please.

02:05As a child of God,

02:07as a compassionate human being,

02:11do you really want

02:13a cheaper product on the shelf

02:15that's been subsidized by communists

02:17and produced with child labor

02:19and slave labor?

02:22This is what the Trump administration

02:25and some conservatives in Congress

02:28are pushing back against.

02:30We seek to establish the truth

02:36that cheap products

02:39produced in abhorrent conditions

02:43on foreign soil,

02:46subsidized by communism,

02:48and produced by child labor

02:50and slave labor,

02:51not only should they not be available

02:53for a cheaper price on our shelf,

02:55they shouldn't be available at all

02:57on American shelves,

03:00in the opinion of some.

03:05So we not only support

03:08the aggressive effort

03:10of our executive branch

03:12to push back against this worldwide,

03:16but particularly with China,

03:18we not only support it,

03:20we demand it.

03:23And some of us,

03:24I'm 63 years old.

03:26I've watched our industrial base

03:28disintegrate in my lifetime.

03:31And what we hope,

03:33and I'm going to ask you,

03:34Mr. Bishop,

03:35to address what this means

03:36for the next generation,

03:38I am prayerful

03:39that we can fix this thing

03:41and this Congress

03:42at least change the trajectory

03:44of trade imbalance

03:46by insisting upon

03:49core principled trade deals

03:53with nations like China.

03:54and we have to be aggressive

03:56and we have to be aggressive

03:56about it

03:57for the coming generation.

03:59Mr. Bishop,

04:00how would you,

04:01how would you see

04:03if we fix this thing,

04:05what happens

04:06for the next generation

04:08of Americans

04:08if we restore

04:10the industrial base

04:11of our sovereign nation?

04:14It's a golden era.

04:15I mean,

04:16you look for,

04:17I mean,

04:17you look at

04:18where the cities

04:19where we used to produce things,

04:21St. Louis,

04:22Cleveland,

04:22Pittsburgh.

04:24I mean,

04:24these were some

04:24of the richest cities,

04:25not just in the country,

04:26but in the entire world.

04:28We literally called it

04:28a gilded era.

04:31And what's happened

04:32over the last century

04:33and has certainly

04:33accelerated

04:34over the last two decades

04:36is something

04:36that's reversible.

04:37We have to get

04:37very,

04:38very serious about it.

04:39Do you believe

04:39a new golden era

04:41has been described

04:42as achievable,

04:45good sir,

04:46if we make

04:47the necessary

04:47corrections now?

04:50We're still,

04:51we still have time,

04:52but in my opinion,

04:54we have to get

04:55really serious

04:56right now.

04:57Well,

04:58Mr. Chairman,

04:58we are really serious

04:59right now.

05:00Thank you for

05:01convening this hearing

05:03and I yield.

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