Van Hollen, Baldwin Introduce Legislation to Address Supply Chain Disruptions and Support Made In America Production
Supply Chain Resiliency Act will alleviate current supply chain bottlenecks and prevent future disruptions by investing in American companies
As ongoing, pandemic related supply chain disruptions impact businesses and consumers, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in introducing new legislation to help address the issue. The Supply Chain Resiliency Act will alleviate current supply chain bottlenecks and prevent future disruptions by investing in American companies to reduce our reliance on long supply chains and ensure that critical products are made in America.
The Supply Chain Resiliency Act creates an Office of Supply Chain Resiliency at the Commerce Department, charged with monitoring, researching, and addressing vulnerable supply chains. The Office will provide loans, loan guarantees, and grants to small and medium manufacturers, to allow them to address supply chain bottlenecks by expanding production. For example, a manufacturer that is unable to meet the increased demand for its products can get a low-interest loan from the Office of Supply Chain Resiliency to expand production.
In order to ensure adequate labor supply, safe working conditions, and labor-management cooperation, the legislation includes strong labor protections as a condition of expansion support. Through committed long-term low-cost financial support, the Office of Supply Chain Resiliency will provide incentives for manufacturers seeking to expand production in the United States and the companies that get their goods to market.
The Supply Chain Resiliency Act is endorsed by the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers, and in addition to Senator Van Hollen, is cosponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The full text of the Supply Chain Resiliency Act can be found here.
An online version of this release can be found here.