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EXCLUSIVE: The Office of the Attending Physician of the U.S. Congress has provided congressional offices with KN95 masks for members and their staff that are “made in China,” and more than 120 House Republicans are expressing their “disbelief and outrage” that taxpayer dollars are being used to purchase the face coverings manufactured in China, when “American alternatives are available.”
Republicans are sounding the alarm after Capitol attending physician Dr. Brian Monahan issued revised guidance on Jan. 3 mandating the use of N95 or KN95 masks for all individuals when in office buildings designated to the House of Representatives, and on the House side of the Capitol.
Monahan sent a memo to House lawmakers to update COVID-19 precautions amid the surge in cases of the highly transmissible omicron variant. Fox News obtained the memo on Thursday.
KN95 masks provided to congressional offices by the Office of the Attending Physician, according to a House GOP aide. (House GOP aide)
“Blue surgical masks, cloth face masks and gaiter masks must be replaced by the more protective KN95 or N95 masks,” Monahan wrote in the memo to members.
Fox News obtained photos of the KN95 masks provided to lawmakers and their staff by the Office of the Attending Physician. The masks are printed “Made in China” on the side in bold text, and the package includes a sheet of paper with a stamp of a red star.
KN95 masks provided to Congressional offices by the Office of the Attending Physician, according to a House GOP aide.
KN95 masks provided to Congressional offices by the Office of the Attending Physician, according to a House GOP aide.
Now, the top Republican on the House Committee on Administration, Rep. Rodney Davis, joined by House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, GOP Caucus Chair Elise Stefanik and more than 100 House Republican lawmakers, are demanding answers from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In the letter, exclusively obtained by Fox News, more than 120 House Republicans are insisting that if members of Congress are required to wear masks at the Capitol, officials “at least respect the institution and the taxpayers enough not to line the pockets of our adversary whose actions led to the current pandemic.”
“As the highest-ranking official within the Legislative Branch, you have direct influence over, and responsibility for, congressional operations including the institution’s internal response to COVID-19,” they wrote to Pelosi. “Under your tenure, you have closed the Capitol to the American people, implemented COVID-19 protocols in the House that conflict with the Senate, and now, you have handed out masks from China when American alternatives are available.”
They added that there “is no reason that our elected officials and government workers should be given KN95 masks manufactured in China.”
But a spokesman for Pelosi told Fox News on Thursday that “no House entity was involved in this purchase.” The spokesman referred Fox News to the Architect of the Capitol, saying that office “made the purchase.”
Neither a representative of the Architect of the Capitol nor Monahan’s office immediately responded to Fox News’ request for comment on the matter.
Meanwhile, in their letter to Pelosi, Republicans cited a report by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who found it was “beyond doubt that the CCP actively engaged in a cover-up designed to obfuscate data, hide relevant public health information, and suppress doctors and journalists who attempted to warn the world.”
“Given these facts, it is inexcusable for taxpayer dollars to be spent in support of the Chinese economy, and for Members of Congress to be supplied with masks emblazoned with ‘made in China’ on the side,” the Republicans wrote to Pelosi Thursday.
“Members of Congress have been very clear in their sentiment against Chinese-made PPE– including most recently in the National Defense Authorization Act which prohibited the Department of Defense from procuring PPE from China and other non-allied nations,” they continued.
At a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee just last week, Republicans said that the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, which oversees the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), “reported that the SNS has 737 million N95s in stock, and will be awarding a $140+ million contract for N95 manufacturing in the next month or so.”
“Given these facts, why would the Attending Physician, Architect of the Capitol, and Chief Administrative Officer–each under your direction–choose to give members and staff KN95 masks when these masks are neither manufactured in the United States nor constructed to meet American standards?” the Republicans wrote.
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“If you are going to insist that Members and staff wear certain kinds of masks and that our institution spends hundreds of thousands of dollars procuring those masks, then at least respect the institution and the taxpayers enough not to line the pockets of our adversary whose actions led to the current pandemic,” they wrote.
They added: “We look forward to the day when the political charade that is the House’s operational response to the pandemic is over, but in the meantime, we hope that you have enough courage and leadership to correct this severe error in judgement.”
