[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H334-H335]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SUPPORTING AMERICA'S SMALLER BUSINESSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Kansas (Ms. Davids) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we consider 
legislation to strengthen supply chains and to stand up for our small 
businesses. For years, we have been too reliant on goods made in other 
countries.
  The pandemic has exacerbated and exposed that reality. We have seen 
shortages from personal protective equipment to ventilators and 
semiconductor chips. Those supply chain weaknesses continue to 
contribute to rising prices and inflation.
  We should be making more in America. We have many small businesses in 
Kansas and across the country that are willing and able to step up to 
the plate.
  As we take up the America COMPETES Act this week, legislation drafted 
with both parties and aimed at creating jobs, addressing inflation, and 
strengthening American manufacturing, it is absolutely essential that 
we include small and medium manufacturers in our consideration.
  In my district, the Kansas Third, we have businesses who pivoted 
their entire production lines to fill gaps in our medical supply 
chains, helping protect frontline healthcare workers amid significant 
shortages in personal protective equipment early in the pandemic. At 
that time, nurses and hospital staff were having to reuse masks and 
gowns, putting themselves at incredible risk.
  We were slowed by our reliance on foreign-made supplies, and here we 
had small businesses that were ready to help if we had just given them 
a chance.
  The America COMPETES Act includes a program to build a stable and 
adaptable supply chain for our national stockpile, one that is flexible 
enough to react in emergency situations without completely breaking 
down, as it did before. As we work to build that flexibility, it would 
be a mistake to shut out the producers we have right here at home.
  My amendment is going to ensure that when we are restocking and 
restructuring our strategic national stockpile that we are working with 
a range of businesses. It would require that smaller manufacturers get 
a seat at the table, not just big corporations, because I can tell you 
from experience that they stand ready to pitch in, ready to train and 
employ our workers. It is our job to ensure they get the chance to do 
just that.
  The America COMPETES Act is a major opportunity to deal in our 
domestic industries and workers. It is an opportunity to address root 
causes of inflation and bring down our costs long term, one 
particularly important example being incentives for domestic 
semiconductor manufacturing. And it is an opportunity for us to invest 
in

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our global standing, putting our workers, farmers, manufacturers, and 
businesses on a level playing field with countries like China and other 
nations.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment and to support 
small manufacturers.

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