Reads of The Week: Stimulus Checks, Hong Kong Immigration, and Puerto Rican Pharmaceuticals

Each week, we feature opinion pieces from the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. Do you dream of having bylines like these? Learn more about how the Writing Fellows Program can help boost your writing career!

$2,000 stimulus checks have lawmakers barking up the wrong tree by Christian Sagers (Summer 2020) in Deseret News
The on-again-off-again $2,000 stimulus check idea is on once again — kind of — as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has rolled it into a bill with two other measures that are unpopular with Democrats and wants — but has not committed — to put the whole package up for a vote.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer didn’t mince his words: It “will not pass the House and cannot become law”…

Opening the US to Hong Kongers Would Promote America’s Aims by Josh T Smith (Summer 2015) in Inside Sources
On December 19, the Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act failed to advance in the Senate due to objections from Senator Ted Cruz. The bill would allow people in Hong Kong to claim refugee status in the United States if they’ve faced persecution for their political beliefs. It’s a disappointing failure because just 11 days prior, the bill unanimously passed the House. To underscore the seriousness of the situation Hong Kong political dissidents find themselves in, the day after the bill cleared the House, Agnes Chow, a pro-democracy activist, was denied bail for her role in reform protests in Hong Kong.

Providing refuge reaffirms America’s political values and rebuts infringements on fundamental rights that Americans cherish. This resolution would open avenues for pro-democracy activists like Chow to seek refuge in the United States…

U.S. can break free of its dependence on China by rebuilding Puerto Rico’s pharmaceutical industry by Carlos Roa (Fall 2020) in the Miami Herald
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the precarious state of U.S. pharmaceutical supply chains. Americans have finally begun to realize how much we rely on China — an increasingly hostile geopolitical competitor — for the essential medicines necessary to save lives. It is crucial that we fix this dangerous dependence.

Fortunately, we have the tool with which to do it: Puerto Rico, the beating heart of U.S. drug manufacturing. Rebuilding the island nation’s pharmaceutical manufacturing industry could be the best solution to this serious problem…