“Over the past year, we’ve experienced firsthand how supply chain vulnerabilities have undermined our national security and led to tragic and unnecessary loss of life. Our defense industrial base faces challenges of a similar scale and we must act with a sense of urgency to strengthen supply chains critical to our national defense,” said Rep. Gallagher. “It is long past time to reduce our supply chain dependency on adversaries like China while expanding partnerships with our allies and bringing jobs back home. I am proud to join Rep. Slotkin in leading this important bipartisan effort and look forward to hitting the ground running.”
“The experience we went through in the early days of the pandemic was searing. Back in April and May, I was getting on the phone with middlemen in China to try to get masks, gloves, and other supplies for our frontline workers –– and it impressed upon me the importance of identifying which supply chains have a national security importance,” said Rep. Slotkin. “We can’t be left vulnerable like that again.
“On the high end of the scale, there is a ton of technology-related materials, like clips and battery parts, that continue to leave both the commercial sector and the DoD vulnerable to supply shocks. In this task force, we’ll be focused on identifying the list of critical supplies the Department needs, the vulnerabilities and chokepoints in those supply chains, and recommending legislation for this year’s NDAA. Instead of producing a long report, we’re focused on drafting legislative text for the things that we suggest.”