At White House, Hassan and colleagues discuss securing U.S. supply chain
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan
WASHINGTON – At the White House today, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and a bipartisan group of her colleagues discussed strengthening the U.S. supply chain with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden is signing an Executive Order today to address supply chain vulnerabilities in pharmaceutical products and critical minerals, including those used to create semiconductors, for high-tech manufacturing and defense technology.
“It’s essential that we take on the Chinese Communist Party’s destabilizing actions and reinvest in U.S. manufacturing in order to protect national security and public health, create good-paying jobs, and power American innovation,” said Senator Hassan. “The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how important it is that we have strong manufacturing capacity including for medical supplies. We must also bring home the manufacturing of advanced technologies, including for 5G infrastructure, in order to address potential shortages and vulnerabilities. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss these pressing issues with President Biden and bipartisan colleagues of mine today, and I will continue to push on a bipartisan basis to stand up to the Chinese government and support American manufacturing.”
In addition to President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senator Hassan, participants in today’s meeting included Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Congressman John Joyce (R-PA-13), Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA-06), and Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX-10).
Hassan has worked across the aisle to confront the Chinese government and strengthen American manufacturing. The National Defense Authorization Act included two bipartisan provisions that Senator Hassan worked on to address the rise of China, including an amendment she cosponsored to help spur American-based manufacturing of semiconductors in order to increase competitiveness and decrease reliance on China. The National Defense Authorization Act also included a measure based on a bipartisan bill Senator Hassan cosponsored, the USA Telecommunications Act, which seeks to encourage and support U.S. innovation in the race for 5G by providing funds to support research and development in Western-based alternatives to Chinese equipment providers Huawei and ZTE. The Senate last year also passed a bipartisan bill that Senator Hassan and colleagues introduced that would require the U.S. to partner with allies in the Indo-Pacific region, Europe, and elsewhere to develop a unified approach to address the rise of China.
In addition, Senator Hassan has worked to strengthen research and development in the U.S., introducing the bipartisan American Innovation and Jobs Act to support research and development (R&D) investments by innovative startups and by established companies making major R&D investments.