ICYMI Kansas City Star: “Davids amendment makes it into bill to fund science and manufacturing, combat China”
On Friday, Representative Sharice Davids voted to pass major economic legislation through the House that would address current supply chain issues and promote long-term American competitiveness. The America COMPETES Act passed with Davids' amendment to ensure small and mid-sized manufacturers are given opportunities to participate in federal supply chain upgrades.
The Kansas City Starreported on Davids' amendment and the overall legislation on Friday, noting that "the COMPETES Act…invests around $250 billion in scientific research and manufacturing in an effort to address supply chain issues that have driven up prices across the country and send a political message to combat China's rising global influence."
Read more in the Kansas City Star:
"Rep. Sharice Davids' measure to help small manufacturers get federal money to ease shortages of protective medical gear passed the House of Representatives Friday, nearly two years after it was originally proposed.
"For years, we have been too reliant on goods made in other countries," Davids said in a speech on the floor of the House Wednesday. "Those supply chain weaknesses continue to contribute to rising prices and inflation. We should be making more in America, and we have many small businesses in Kansas and across the country that are willing and able to step up to the plate."
Davids sponsored an amendment to the larger America COMPETES Act that would make sure that small and medium-sized manufacturers are included in a $500 million pilot program that allows the government to enter into agreements with businesses to produce personal protective equipment and medical supplies.
The issue came to Davids attention in 2020, when a Kansas factory owned by Dentec Safety Specialists approached her in attempts to get a grant to produce N95 masks in the early stages of the pandemic. In May 2020, she proposed a bill that would have created a $100 million grant program to help small manufacturers produce medical gear and covid testing supplies.
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The bill also contains $52 billion to spur the production of computer chips. There's been a global shortage of the chips over the course of the pandemic, creating a ripple effect in the supply chain, causing companies to reduce production and driving up prices.
Davids visited Cherub Medical Supply in Shawnee last week to talk about the shortage of chips that has forced the pediatric medical supplier to deal with long waitlists."
Don't miss Davids' floor speech on her amendment and the need to make more in America:
"For years, we have been too reliant on goods made in other countries. The pandemic has exacerbated and exposed that reality, with shortages from personal protective equipment to ventilators to semiconductor chips. Those supply chain weaknesses continue to contribute to rising prices and inflation. We should be making more in America, and we have many small businesses in Kansas and across the country that are willing and able to step up to the plate."