Holding them accountable

By Mariannette Miller-Meeks

I will continue to do everything within my power to hold the CCP accountable for their actions, both economic and humanitarian. For years, the CCP made international news for their inhumane and genocidal treatment of the Uyghur population. Despite international condemnation, China has continued to detain Uyghurs in re-education camps, subjected them to forced labor, and inhumane living conditions.

Since taking office, I have been vocal in opening an investigation into the CCP’s role in the origination of the COVID-19 virus. For months, my Democratic colleagues have dismissed these calls as partisan rhetoric, choosing to ignore the need to get answers. Members of Congress were ridiculed for simply questioning the facts behind the wet market theory and suggesting that the virus could have originated in a lab. Just this past week, the World Health Organization announced its intention to investigate the Wuhan lab-leak theory.

We cannot let the CCP escape punishment for the deaths of millions across the world and for shutting down the world economy for over a year. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to get to the bottom of the pandemic’s origins, and we must force the CCP to cooperate in a full and independent investigation.

The CCP’s deception and attempts to undermine the United States does not stop there. For years, the CCP has been buying up American farmland with the goal of undermining our domestic food production. This, combined with record-high land prices, has been deterring young people from making a career out of farming, furthering harming our domestic agriculture industry. That is why I signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 7892, the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act. This bill would prohibit the purchase of public or private agricultural lands by anyone associated with the People’s Republic of China.

American farmland should be owned by American farmers. Iowa’s producers and consumers are struggling and the policies coming from this Administration have not helped. Broken supply chains, increased input costs, and record-high inflation are threatening the way of life of family farms across Iowa.

We all know that food security is national security, and we should start prioritizing and supporting American agriculture. I will continue to fight to ensure that Iowa’s producers are treated fairly and get the assistance they need every day. I will stand up to any entity or foreign government, especially the CCP, to give them the support they need.

Mariannette Miller-Meeks is a resident of Ottumwa who currently represents Iowa’s Second District in the United States House of Representatives.