Bill Will Strengthen Manufacturing, Solar, and Pharmaceutical Supply Chains at Home
Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today applauded House passage of the America COMPETES Act. The bill will help fix our supply chains, ensure critical products are manufactured here in America, turbocharge American scientific and technological leadership, and strengthen our global competitiveness. Pallone spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor this week.
The America COMPETES Act also includes Pallone’s legislation that provides $100 million to increase the domestic drug manufacturing base through the establishment of National Centers of Excellence in Advanced and Continuous Manufacturing. This funding would allow the Centers to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and industry to further develop and implement advanced and continuous manufacturing technology and would allow FDA to partner with universities across the country with experience in these technologies to improve pharmaceutical production. Rutgers University is already playing a key role in this emerging technology.
“The America COMPETES Act lays the foundation to guarantee America leads the global economy, invests in American workers and manufacturing, and ensures that critical goods essential to our economy and national security are made right here in the United States. The bill invests in America to strengthen supply chains, bolster domestic semi-conductor manufacturing capacity, and expand the production of the components needed to build solar panels,” Pallone said. “The America COMPETES Act also includes my legislation to foster the development of advanced and continuous manufacturing technology to increase our ability to quickly produce prescription drugs. It also supports efforts to replenish and modernize strategic stockpiles of medical supplies to ensure we’re prepared for future public health emergencies. With passage of this legislation today, we are ensuring that America can outcompete the rest of the world by ending our reliance on other nations for the manufacturing of critical goods. We must now work with the Senate to quickly reconcile our bills into final legislation that can become law.”
As Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Pallone included provisions to prevent shortages of critical goods and ensure that more of these goods are made right here in the United States, invest in our nation’s solar manufacturing supply chain, and improve our medical product supply chain including:
●$45 billion for grants, loans, and loan guarantees to support supply chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods, industrial equipment, and manufacturing technology;
●$3 billion to fund the establishment of a domestic solar manufacturing supply chain;
●$375 million to reduce the vulnerability of the electric grid;
●$1.5 billion to establish a medical supply chain flexibility manufacturing pilot program;
●$10.5 billion for a new grant program to states to expand or maintain a strategic stockpile of drugs, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and other products; and
●$1.5 billion for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund to fund innovative technologies in the U.S. mobile broadband market.
More information on the Energy and Commerce provisions is available here. A full summary is available here.
Original source can be found here.
