In the News
Ro Khanna, the dynamic progressive US representative from California, was inspired to enter politics by the legacy of his grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar (1901–1985), the legendary Indian trade unionist, independence campaigner, and parliamentarian. Though he was born and raised in the United States, Khanna traveled frequently to India as a youth, and he speaks movingly of how "our family's values come from my grandfather's embrace of a Gandhian worldview"—in particular, Mahatma Gandhi's belief "in the oneness not of merely all human life but in the oneness of all that lives."
With millions of lives at stake amid a rapid spread of COVID-19, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said he hoped President Joe Biden would call the Pfizer CEO to let India produce its vaccine at least for six months or a year.
Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives, has been an ardent supporter of the move by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver of COVID-19 vaccines.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
How much more can the United States help India? The U.S. is now sending oxygen for COVID patients, raw materials for vaccines and other supplies for a country now leading the world in daily new infections. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California joins us. He is vice chair of the Congressional India Caucus.
Congressman, good morning.
RO KHANNA: Good morning, Steve.
Hopes were high for the Endless Frontier Act when it was first introduced in 2020. The bipartisan, bicameral bill promised to boost U.S. efforts to compete against China by sending $100 billion to the National Science Foundation, refocusing its efforts on emerging technology like semiconductors and AI and even changing its name to the National Science and Technology Foundation. But the bill stagnated last year as Congress battled over COVID-19 recovery and the upcoming election.
Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg urged a House subcommittee on Thursday to end tax breaks for fossil fuel producers, saying their existence was a "disgrace," and she accused lawmakers who have failed to remove them as "proof that we have not understood the climate emergency."
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will testify Thursday to a U.S. congressional hearing on fossil fuel subsidies, which the committee's progressive chairman is pressuring President Joe Biden to end.
Thunberg will appear virtually before the House Oversight Committee's subcommittee on the environment the same day Biden kicks off a virtual two-day Earth Day summit with world leaders, seeking to assert U.S. leadership internationally on climate change.
Congress is moving with increasing urgency on bipartisan legislation to confront China and bolster U.S. competitiveness in technology and critical manufacturing with the Senate poised to act within weeks on a package of bills.
A group of Republicans and Democrats are putting forward a new plan aimed at bolstering the nation's economic competitiveness against China. It represents a big test of whether Republicans and Democrats can still collaborate on key issues in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer along with Republican Sen. Todd Young introduced legislation on Wednesday to pour federal money into industries like semiconductors and artificial intelligence. Other co-sponsors included Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin.
Congressman Ro Khanna of California was the first House Democrat to speak out Friday against President Joe Biden's request for a $715 billion Pentagon budget for Fiscal Year 2022, an increase from the current $704 billion level approved under former President Donald Trump.
Congressional Democrats are introducing legislation to transfer $1bn in funding from a controversial new intercontinental ballistic missile to the development of a universal Covid vaccine.
The Investing in Cures Before Missiles (ICBM) Act, introduced in the House and Senate on Friday, would stop funding on the proposed new missile, known as the ground-based strategic deterrent (GBSD) which is projected to cost a total of $264bn over its projected lifespan, and discontinue spending on a linked warhead modification program.