The bill introduction came as President Joe Biden sought to soothe the public about supply chain worries ahead of the holidays, saying the administration is working to open up logjams that are delaying the movement of products.
“Those shelves are going to be stocked,” he said.
A supply chain shortage spurred by increased consumer demand, clogged ports, inefficient deployment of a reduced number of long-haul truck drivers and other factors has become a crisis as Christmas approaches, with Republicans blaming President Joe Biden and Democrats for the crisis and Democrats blaming it on a variety of factors.
This bill would provide a domestic alternative to overseas imports, making it easier for manufacturers to identify sources of raw materials, for example, or use information in the database to determine how better to distribute products.
The database would include company information, an overview of capabilities, accreditation and products, and proprietary information.
In a statement announcing the bill’s introduction, Blackburn said it “will help bring needed transparency to manufacturers and businesses struggling to get their supply chains back on track.”
Menendez, meanwhile, said the pandemic exposed “deep vulnerabilities in our own national supply chains that we are still dealing with as a country and that make us susceptible during moments of crisis.”
