Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Bilirakis for yielding.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1721, the Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act. This bipartisan legislation that I co-lead with Representative Schrier directs the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a comprehensive study examining the feasibility of manufacturing critical infrastructure products here in the United States.

At a time when we have a President who is going to make good on the promise to onshore manufacturing and have a resurgence of manufacturing in the United States, there is nothing more important we can do than to reauthorize the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and pass H.R. 1721.

The challenges we face regarding our supply chains and manufacturing capabilities have been brought into sharp focus in recent years. We cannot continue to allow foreign competitors, particularly China and the Chinese Communist Party, to control our supply chains and create economic vulnerabilities.

Consider our infrastructure and emerging technologies. We have seen how foreign control of critical minerals needed for solar panels and battery production has created bottlenecks in our renewable energy transition and also in the manufacturing of vehicles.

Similarly, the components required for data centers that power our artificial intelligence, or augmented intelligence capabilities, are largely manufactured overseas, creating significant vulnerabilities in these strategically important sectors.

These examples demonstrate with painful clarity that our Nation's critical infrastructure, spanning 16 designated sectors including energy, communications, transportation, healthcare, military, and more, cannot be dependent on foreign supply chains.

This bill takes a measured, data-driven approach to addressing these vulnerabilities. Within one 1 year of enactment, the Secretary of Commerce would be required to identify high-demand critical infrastructure with manufacturing constraints, do a cost-benefit analysis of domestic production, and determine the feasibility of such production.

By supporting this bill, we are taking an important step toward rebuilding American manufacturing capability in strategic sectors. We are creating a roadmap for revitalizing rural communities that have been sidelined for far too long while critical infrastructure components are manufactured overseas.

This legislation not only shields America from global supply chain disruptions but also identifies which rural areas are well positioned to become manufacturing hubs.

The strength of our Nation is enhanced when the materials used in our critical infrastructure and the products Americans purchase are produced domestically and American made. When manufacturing happens on American soil, we retain the innovation, the intellectual property, the economic benefits, and the long-term prosperity that comes with it in rebuilding the middle class.

I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan measure to strengthen America's critical infrastructure, create opportunities for American workers, and enhance our economic security.

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