Pascrell, McHenry Introduce Bipartisan American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act

Amid pandemic failures, legislation will encourage production of medical supplies in America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) today introduced the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act. As the United States has contended with devastating shortages since the beginning of the pandemic, this bipartisan legislation will help end America’s over-reliance on personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies from China and other foreign nations. Expanding U.S. capacity will ensure that hospitals and frontline workers have access to a plentiful supply of high-quality PPE.

“The ongoing pandemic has exposed America’s over-reliance on personal protective equipment made in other countries. In a cruel twist of irony we are especially dependent on medical supplies made in China, where COVID-19 originated and whose totalitarian secrecy deepened the world crisis,” said Rep. Pascrell, who has led efforts in Congress to reassess American supply chains. “Our reliance on non-American-made PPE has crippled our response to COVID from the start. Even as we continue to fight the virus, we must use this painful lesson to change our behavior now. Our bipartisan American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act will ensure we are investing in the best tools in the world at our disposal by making our own PPE right here in America. Encouraging production of medical supplies within our borders will ultimately help our economy, create jobs, ensure higher-grade equipment, and most importantly save American lives. This cannot wait until the next pandemic.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it painfully clear that the United States has failed its hospitals and frontline healthcare workers because of our over-reliance on Chinese-made PPE,” said Rep. McHenry. “By returning production of PPE to the United States, we will address the concerns raised by the current crisis while also incentivizing future investments in high quality PPE made by American companies, ensuring the long-term protection of our hospitals and frontline healthcare workers. I am glad to partner with Representative Pascrell to introduce a bipartisan bill that does just that.”

“The U.S. textile industry would like to sincerely thank Congressman McHenry and Congressman Pascrell for introducing the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act, a bill we believe will create strong domestic procurement rules to incentivize investment and the onshoring of critical medical textiles,” said National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas. “Re-creating the successful domestic purchasing rules found in the Berry Amendment for all federal PPE purchases will not only help our country reduce its overreliance on China for PPE but also provide longer term support for our domestic supply chain that has supplied hundreds of millions of urgently needed items including face masks, isolation gowns and other needed PPE to frontline health care workers.”

“The American manufacturers who comprise the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC) applaud the leadership of Congressman McHenry and Congressman Pascrell, demonstrated by their introduction of the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act,” said David Costello, Executive Director of the WPRC. “This thoughtful legislation recognizes that a 100% American PPE supply chain is a matter of our national security and that ending reliance on unreliable, foreign made products is essential to ensure the health and safety of our nation. Our members are already investing their time and energy bolstering their domestic PPE capability and we look forward to working with Mr. McHenry and Mr. Pascrell to see this bill become law. “

The American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act implements the Berry Amendment standard of “100 percent of a product that is grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States” for the purchase of PPE by Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also resets the contract level for the Berry Amendment from $250,000 to $150,000 to ensure more PPE is made in America.

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