[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 86 (Thursday, May 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2626-S2627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ACCESS TO BABY FORMULA ACT OF 2022

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7791, which was received 
from the House and is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 7791) to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 
     to establish waiver authority to address certain emergencies, 
     disasters, and supply chain disruptions, and for other 
     purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read 
a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 7791) was ordered to a third reading, was read the 
third time, and passed.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the Senate has just passed legislation to 
help ease the terrible nightmare parents are facing trying to find baby 
formula for their kids.
  It is rare that we have unanimity in the Senate on important 
measures, and I wish we had more, but this is one of these important 
issues, and I am glad we are acting with one voice.
  It is the stuff of nightmares for parents to race to the grocery 
store or the drugstore only to find the shelves empty of baby formula 
or, even worse, maybe causing more anguish because there is formula on 
the shelf, but they can't buy it because WIC didn't allow them to. This 
shortage of baby formula is causing unimaginable stress, unimaginable 
anguish for parents, and immense harm on America's young kids.
  There is already such a strain on parents of newborn children, 
especially in the times of COVID. The last thing parents and caregivers 
need is for it to be even harder to feed their children. The step we 
are taking today is going to add flexibility and relief to WIC 
beneficiaries, and almost half of all baby formula consumed in the 
United States is by WIC beneficiaries. Now millions of parents will 
have an easier time finding the baby formula they need.
  I want to thank Senator Stabenow. She has been amazing in shepherding 
this through. She got it through the House. She came up with the idea. 
And now we are here to pass it in the Senate and send to the 
President's desk. She had a great partner in Senator Boozman who 
stepped up to the plate as well. I thank them for championing this 
legislation.
  As I mentioned, it already passed the House with overwhelming 
bipartisan support, and I am glad it is passing the Senate.
  Yesterday, President Biden invoked the DPA, Defense Production Act, 
to respond to the shortage of baby formula that is hurting parents and 
caretakers of newborns across the country. The President and Democrats 
in Congress are taking this issue seriously, and invoking the DPA was 
exactly the right response.
  To the parents and caregivers of America, we hear you. We know this 
is an unacceptable crisis. The Senate is taking action. President Biden 
has taken action to increase imports of safe baby formula and to 
increase production of formula in our country. The House has taken 
action, and now the Senate is. We must keep going because there is more 
to do.
  I yield to Senator Stabenow who, as I mentioned, did an amazingly 
great job on this issue.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I want to thank our leader who has been 
right there every moment giving us the opportunity to be able to move 
this through quickly.

  I am very pleased to say the Access to Baby Formula Act, after 
Senator Schumer's actions, will be going to the President for his 
signature. This is really important as part of what we need to do to 
deal with an immediate crisis. The reality is that right this minute, 
moms and dads are trying to figure out what they are going to be able 
to do to give safe baby formula to their children. Is it on the shelf? 
Where will they have to go to get it? How many days, hours are we going 
to have to wait to do this? It is an incredible--incredible--emergency.
  What I so appreciate is that we came together--House, Senate, 
Democrats and Republicans--and acted, frankly, I think faster than I 
anticipated from writing the bill in the beginning of the week to 
Thursday having it pass the House and now the Senate to go to the 
President.
  I don't think we should be giving ourselves too many kudos here 
because I wish this hadn't happened in the very beginning. We shouldn't 
have seen what happened at the Abbott plant. In my mind, the FDA should 
have moved more quickly to respond to it. But when we became aware of 
all of this, we came together very quickly to do what we could.
  The reality is that half of the baby formula in this country goes to 
moms and babies who are on a very important program that is called the 
Women, Infants, and Children's Program. We know that we have to do 
everything humanly possible to take away any barrier for them to be 
able to get this important food for children--to get baby formula for 
children--and that is what we have done to make sure that the USDA can 
act quickly.
  I want to thank Secretary Vilsack, who in fact has acted quickly and 
who has worked with us on this legislation.
  We also want to make sure that every manufacturer of baby formula 
going forward is required to participate in WIC to have a comprehensive 
plan of what to do in an emergency, what to do if their supply chain 
breaks down or something else that stops our moms and babies from 
getting what is essential daily nutrients for them to be healthy. This 
is an important program that has worked for a long, long time.
  I am so pleased to have my friend and ranking member Senator Boozman 
working with me. We came together very quickly. I want to thank our 
staffs for doing that as well.
  This is not the only thing that needs to happen, but it is really 
important that we move forward and make it clear that if you are on WIC 
and you go to the grocery store and the formula that you are supposed 
to buy by grant is not available, but there is something else 
available, you can buy it. You can get it. We are not going to put any 
barriers up for your getting safe baby formula. This is an important 
piece.
  I want to thank President Biden for acting as well, reaching out to 
our partners in the European Union to be able to import safe baby 
formula as fast as possible. There are other producers, manufacturers 
in the country increasing their production right now.
  But the most important thing is that we let families know that we are 
going to do everything possible to make sure that their babies get what 
they need as soon as possible and that we understand--I certainly 
understand as a mom; I understand as a grandma--that this is a horror 
for families with babies.
  And I am very appreciative that the U.S. Senate came together as 
quickly

[[Page S2627]]

and as in a bipartisan way as we have done to do our part--those of us 
on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee--to make sure 
that those moms and babies whom we are responsible for through WIC are 
getting all the support that they can to make sure they can sleep easy 
at night, except when the baby is crying, of course--to be able to 
sleep easy at night and know that somebody is going to work as hard as 
possible to make sure they have the baby formula they need.
  I would defer to my friend and partner, Senator Boozman.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Again, I want to compliment Senator Stabenow for her 
leadership in this area and, as she said, getting this done in a record 
amount of time. We are facing an infant formula shortage across the 
country, as we all know. Moms and dads in the most prosperous country 
on earth should never have to worry about their ability to obtain 
something as vital as baby formula.
  One of the most vital nutrition programs, the WIC program provides 
formula to families in need across the country. These shortages have 
disproportionally impacted these families as it makes it more difficult 
to find formula on the shelves.
  This legislation will benefit every American family by ensuring that 
formula manufacturers and regulators are always prepared to respond to 
any shortages or supply disruptions and by providing more flexibilities 
to USDA and States in helping parents meet their children's nutritional 
needs.
  Our bill has the support of the National WIC Association and more 
than 250 other groups across the country and, most importantly, the 
support of 100 Senators, which we are very proud of.
  I want to, again, give a special shout-out, a special thanks to 
Senator Stabenow and her staff and my staff, who worked very hard to 
get this done, and then also to the majority leader Senator Schumer 
for, again, pushing this through.
  As Senator Stabenow said, I think this truly is a record amount of 
time and great collaboration amongst the House and the Senate and 
really is a very, very good example as to how we need to collaborate 
more.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.

                          ____________________