WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers want to make changes to prevent any future baby formula shortages.
“This is not just a problem for some babies, it’s a problem for the vast majority of infants and their families,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said.
Gillibrand worries this problem could threaten national security if left unchecked.
“National security cannot be full achieved without human security, which requires access to nutrition, clean water and basic necessities of life,” she added.
Gillibrand is now advancing legislation to increase domestic production and give the President the authority to allow certain baby formulas to be imported and sold in the U.S.
“We need more resources,” she told reporters. “The FDA has like six people who do this, which is absurd. We need a lot more people to do the work and we need to resource it.”
Some Republicans agree that a similar shortage can’t happen again and it’s time to give states the tools they need to solve future challenges.
“There’s no flexibility for the state and others to move to other types and there was no contingency plan by the administration, nor has there ever been,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said.
She has not seen Gillibrand’s bill, but believes the priority should be securing domestic production.
“We need to make sure that if something were to happen and the F.D.A needs to close the facility, that we have the ability to create and make at alternate facilities,” Capito said.
Both Senators agree that taking the rights steps will also stop problems like hoarding and price gouging.
