BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) – Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said Thursday she’s co-sponsored two separate bills to address the ongoing baby formula shortage. Along with other senators, Capito also called on the FDA to find out how the situation got to its current state in the first place.
Capito’s Thursday comments came one day after the House of Representatives voted to send $28 million to the FDA, in an effort to alleviate the formula shortage.
“The house just passed some money to move forward on this, but you’re still not going to -- it’s going to be six to eight weeks before you get actual production,” said Capito. “So we need to go to the production part first, and I think that’s what the defense production act will do.”
President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Wednesday, which allowed for the Dept. of Defense to offer its help in mitigating supply chain issues. The house also approved a measure to allow formula to be purchased from a federal program for low income families.