WASHINGTON — Congressman Vern Buchanan and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) yesterday introduced the Urgently Feeding America’s Babies Act (H.R.7781). The bill requires the Biden administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to quickly increase our domestic supply of infant formula and establish a process to approve the domestic sale of European-produced formulas to address the ongoing shortage.
“As a grandfather to eight young children, I know firsthand that there is no greater concern than parents being able to feed their children,” said Buchanan. “With more than 40 percent of our country’s most popular infant formulas out of stock, we need to use every tool at our disposal to ramp up domestic production as quickly as possible to make sure babies are fed. I look forward to working with Sen. Rubio to address this ongoing crisis and help bring peace of mind to millions of families across the country.”
Rubio said, “This crisis is putting the lives of America’s babies in jeopardy. We must increase the supply of infant formula as quickly as possible, and this legislation would provide the tools to do so. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Approximately 67 percent of babies in the United States are at least partially fed by formula by 3-months-old, per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, according to Datasembly, 43 percent of the top-selling infant formulas are out of stock at stores across the country.
Specifically, the Urgently Feeding America’s Babies Act would:
- Direct President Joe Biden to designate infant formula as a scarce and critical material under the Defense Production Act; and
- Direct the FDA establish a waiver process to approve the sale of infant formulas that are currently approved for sale in the European Union and to publish safety guidelines for each product approved via waiver.
Buchanan also recently signed onto a letter to President Biden and FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf demanding answers for the supply shortage and asking for additional details on the administration’s plan to ramp up production.
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