Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee, said the U.S. needs to produce its own medical supplies.
He released a statement following a briefing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“For far too long we have allowed this nation to outsource the manufacturing of critical medical supplies and needed pharmaceuticals to China.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an Achilles heel for the United States, the future of our nation depends on our ability to prioritize the American production of these critical supplies.
“Thankfully the Trump administration has made it a priority to work to quickly secure our medical supply chains as we continue to combat COVID-19. Through Project Air Bridge, FEMA has been able to expedite the movement of critical supplies to medical distributors across the United States. We have a tough fight ahead but I am confident that our nation will continue to move in the right direction.”
On March 12, Rep. Fleischmann told The Hill, “This exposes the Achilles heel that we’ve had in America for too long, we drove a lot of industries out of this country, largely because of labor and other production costs, they are no longer in this country. It is going to take a while to re-tool this country, I think we need to do that not only in the pharmaceutical field but also in the manufacturing sphere.”