Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Sen. Tom Cotton both agreed that it is time to make China pay the ultimate price for starting the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

In a press briefing, Pompeo told reporters that other nations who were part of the G7 agreed that communist China is starting to spread black propaganda to smear and put the blame of the coronavirus pandemic on the US military.

The secretary of state explained that when the news broke out against the deadly coronavirus, the administration immediately wanted to help the Chinese government to mitigate and provide feasible solutions to the virus. Despite accusations from Joe Biden and the rest of the Democratic party, Pompeo said: “We tried—you’ll remember—from the opening days to get our scientists, our experts on the ground there so that we could begin to assist in the global response to what began there in China, but we weren’t able to do that.” He added that the communist government would not allow the Americans to do so.

He also revealed that China should be held accountable since they were the “first to know” about the dangers of the COVID-19 virus. However, instead of updating the public on vital information, the country deliberately decided to delay the information. Pompeo also shared a discussion they had with the G7 nations, in which most agreed that China is trying to blame the US government for the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

A journalist then asked the secretary of state if the US government plans to start an investigation on the communist regime over the spread of the deadly pandemic. Pompeo responded that he is going to leave the decision to Congress on whether they plan to launch an investigation. “I’m not doing that anymore,” he added.

However, Pompeo added that what matters is to ensure that the public could access vital and more transparent information. However, the secretary of state admits that the issue of transparency remains a “continuing challenge” for both China and the US. Finally, he concluded that the Trump administration is pushing China to provide “accurate, transparent information just like we’re demanding from every country around the world.”

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Sen. Tom Cotton also expressed the same sentiment, claiming that it is time to end the country’s dependency on Chinese manufactured pharmaceuticals, as a way to retaliate for the “plague” the communist country had brought.

In his appearance on Fox News, Host Steve Doocy asked the senator about the controversial coronavirus relief legislation. The young senator explained that contrary to the accusations made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic party about the administration’s focus on saving corporations, there is more to the bill. Some of the plans include providing immediate relief for those who have been economically affected by the virus, as well as purchasing enough medical equipment for local hospitals.

Doocy then brought up a recent article the senator wrote. In the said article, Cotton claimed that the US must end its dependency on China-made pharmaceuticals. The senator agreed, saying that crucial drugs such as antibiotics, ibuprofen, and Advil were mostly made in China. Cotton added that it is time for the country to take back the manufacturing as the communist country had “unleashed this plague on the world, and there will be a reckoning when we’re on the backside of it.”