To quickly increase America’s domestic supply of infant formula, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) led nine Republicans in introducing legislation that would designate baby formula as a scarce and critical material under the Defense Production Act of 1950.
“As a grandfather to eight young children, I know firsthand that there is no greater concern than parents being able to feed their children,” said Rep. Buchanan. “With more than 40 percent of our country’s most popular infant formulas out of stock, we need to use every tool at our disposal to ramp up domestic production as quickly as possible to make sure babies are fed.”
Rep. Buchanan on May 16 sponsored the Urgently Feeding America’s Babies Act of 2022, H.R. 7781, with original cosponsors including U.S. Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), which also would task the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services with implementing a process under which waivers may be issued for infant formula that is available for commercial use in the European Union to be sold in the United States, according to the text of the bill.
The bipartisan, bicameral companion bill, S. 4226, also was introduced on May 16 by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
“I look forward to working with Sen. Rubio to address this ongoing crisis and help bring peace of mind to millions of families across the country,” Rep. Buchanan said on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday the administration would invoke the National Defense Production Act to increase infant formula manufacturing in America. In response to the news, Rep. Buchanan tweeted on Wednesday that he was pleased to see that Biden would use the Defense Production Act to ramp up domestic production of infant formula and ship infant formula in from overseas.