Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat he held for two decades in Alabama, says more members of Congress in the House of Representatives and Senate need to speak out in support of Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), who have advocated a more aggressive approach in dealing with China as the nation suffers through the coronavirus pandemic.

Sessions told Huntsville, AL radio’s WVNN if he were a member of the U.S. Senate, he would not only be talking about the issue but urging his colleagues to join in as well.

“I think you are right to say now the people are on board,” Sessions said. “The people see it, and now we need to put pressure on the politicians. If I were in the United States Senate, we would be talking about this. And I would be pushing my Republican colleagues: Whose side are you on? What are we going to do? Let’s have some things happen. Right now, I’m not hearing much support for Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, and others who have spoken out. They have been right. Cotton has been early on this all along. So has Hawley. More people need to be speaking out in the Senate, and the House, actually.”

Sessions touted his “Betting on America” proposal, which he said if implemented, would make the United States less reliant on China.

“My plan is called ‘Betting on America’ because I am confident we don’t have to have a war or anything — but we can slam the door on China’s malfeasance,” he continued. “We can protect America’s interests. We have the leverage to do so. If we quit buying their products, their economy is going in the tank. But it won’t hurt us much. We can make the products here in the United States. We can buy them from Mexico or South Korea — allies, friends. We have leverage. President Trump understands that. That’s why we slapped tariffs on China, and why China has come to the table and did actually agree to buy more farm products, finally. That has to continue for some time, in my opinion. Over a period of years, we can reset this relationship, decouple our system from China and product.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor