Multiple Bills Introduced to Boost Domestic PPE Industry
A bipartisan bill introduced in the House last week would require protective gear in the national stockpile to be made by U.S. firms. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., is similar to one introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., (see 2007280032) and part of the Republican proposal for COVID-19 relief.
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“The ongoing pandemic has exposed America’s over-reliance on personal protective equipment made in other countries,” Pascrell, in a July 29 news release announcing the bill's introduction, said. “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. ... Even as we continue to fight the virus, we must use this painful lesson to change our behavior now. ” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, introduced a PPE bill July 29 to require American-made PPE purchases in the strategic national stockpile and make funding that stockpile mandatory.