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Spartz Introduces the National Critical Capabilities Defense Act

December 21, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC — United States Representatives Victoria Spartz (R-IN-05), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today introduced the National Critical Capabilities Defense Act (NCCDA) to establish a review process that would protect the United States supply chain from foreign adversaries like China and Russia. This legislation would create a whole-of-government screening process for outbound investments and the offshoring of critical capacities and supply chains to ensure that the United States can quickly detect supply chain vulnerabilities.

“The recent pandemic highlighted significant weaknesses in supply chain resiliency, geographic imbalances, and material dependencies on the manufacturing output of our adversaries—like China—posing serious national security risks,” said Representative Spartz. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will improve transparency to mitigate strategic risks and increase domestic manufacturing capabilities for critical products and materials.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic and semiconductor shortages exposed that critical U.S. supply chains were not up to the task in robustly responding to the America’s needs. We have to learn from our mistakes and cannot allow outbound investments from the United States to take critical supply chains overseas and into the hands of our adversaries such as China or Russia,” said Representative DeLauro. “Companies at a minimum should be required to report on their proposed offshoring of supply chains so the United States can better protect critical manufacturing capacity here at home to protect American workers and our national, economic and health security. I am hopeful that this legislation can spur action related to U.S. supply chain security. I thank my colleagues in the House, Representatives Pascrell, Fitzpatrick, and Spartz, and in the Senate, Senators Casey and Cornyn, for leading this critical effort. Now is the time to act.”

“The unfolding global supply chain crisis is evidence that America can no longer afford to rely on foreign adversaries like China and Russia for our essential goods and supplies,” said Representative Fitzpatrick. “The NCCDA is an immediate, bipartisan response to the supply chain bottleneck that is plaguing our country and will increase transparency surrounding the offshoring of critical industries and manufacturing. We must act now to ensure the US has a resilient and secure supply chain that will bolster American innovation, job creation, and national security.”

“The frayed American supply chain and our continued bleeding of industrial capacity offshore represent a dangerous national security threat to the United States,” said Representative Pascrell. “This watershed, bipartisan, bicameral legislation will take a major step to provide needed transparency and tools to prevent supply chains and critical industries from being offshored to our adversaries. The Chinese Communist Party climbed America’s back to economic power and is now using that power to commit genocide, crush democratic norms, empower dictators, undermine workers, rig the world economy, and threaten America’s allies. Putin’s Russian Federation has also leached off America’s economic might to sow discord in the world. It is time to enhance supply chain visibility so our companies and average worker investments are not being hoodwinked into empowering trade that undermines American competitiveness. Our proposal would be an important element for innovation and competition legislation being advanced in the House.”

United States Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) also introduced this bipartisan legislation in the Senate.