Florida’s Buchanan, Rubio introduce bill to help fix baby formula supply amid shortage
In response to a nationwide shortage of baby formula, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, on Monday introduced the Urgently Feeding America’s Babies Act (H.R.7781).
The bill would require the Biden administration to invoke the Defense Production Act to quickly increase the domestic supply of infant formula and establish a process to approve the domestic sale of European-produced formulas.
“As a grandfather to eight young children, I know firsthand that there is no greater concern than parents being able to feed their children,” Buchanan said in a press release.
“With more than 40% 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,” Buchanan said.
Last week, the White House announced more steps to combat the shortage, including streamlining the products available, allowing those receiving Women, Infants and Children benefits to choose from a wider variety of products, calling on the FTC and state attorneys general to crack down on price gouging, and increasing imports from overseas.
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlined the increased flexibility for importing infant formula products to increase their availability across the country while protecting the health of infants.
The FDA is encouraging infant formula manufacturers worldwide to take advantage of these flexibilities.
On Tuesday, U.S. House Democrats introduced legislation to provide an additional $28 million to the FDA to help address the shortage.
Approximately 67% of babies in the United States are at least partially fed by formula by age 3 months old.
“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,” Rubio said in the press release.
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.
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.
▪ 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.
This story will be updated.
