Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Defense Production Act topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Chair frames Defense Production Act reauthorization as committee priority
Summary
The chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs opened a hearing on the Defense Production Act, urging a narrow, security-focused reauthorization to strengthen domestic supply chains, support munitions and manufacturing, and reduce reliance on foreign sources for critical minerals and pharmaceuticals.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs opened a committee hearing on the Defense Production Act, saying the statute is a "vital tool for protecting the American people" and a necessary authority for responding to national emergencies.
The chair told the panel the DPA, enacted in the early Cold War, was designed to let the United States rapidly scale domestic industrial capacity in crises and has "stood the test of time" for more than 70 years. The speaker said modern threats are often "economically driven," including actors "weaponizing supply chains" and an overreliance on foreign suppliers for critical minerals, pharmaceuticals and defense components.
"The DPA gives us the authority to meet these challenges head on," the chair said, and urged that any reauthorization be "focused, reliable, and agile" and remain tightly tailored to "defense production, emergency preparedness, and the protection of critical domestic supply chains." The chair identified investment priorities that should be enabled by the law, including munitions, domestic manufacturing, and advanced technologies "that enable our war fighters to deter and defeat threats."
As examples of vulnerabilities, the chair cited rare earth elements and antibiotics, saying the committee should support domestic mining and processing and build second-source capabilities for essential medicines that are largely produced overseas. The chair also referenced the COVID-19 pandemic, noting DPA use to ramp up production of personal protective equipment and support disaster relief as appropriate applications of the statute.
The chair placed the hearing in recent policy context, mentioning that aspects of the "America First" agenda have highlighted the DPA and referring to President Trump's executive order on critical minerals as an example of past federal actions aimed at reducing dependence on geopolitical rivals.
Closing the opening remarks, the chair thanked witnesses for their testimony and said their insights "will help inform this committee's work as we move toward a responsible reauthorization of the DPA." The chair concluded by urging the panel to remain "focused and principled" and thanked Ranking Member Warren.
No motions or votes were recorded in the opening statement; witnesses' testimony was introduced as the next phase of the hearing.
