Innovation, Data, And Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Members of the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce:
On behalf of the 60 affiliates of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), representing 12.5 million working people across our economy, I write to urge you to vote no on the draft legislation “To establish a supply chain resiliency and crisis response program in the Department of Commerce, and for other purposes.”
The pandemic revealed the dangerous costs of fragile supply chains in a crisis, and showed how decades of failed trade and economic policy led to deindustrialization that puts our national and economic security at risk. These failed policies have led to the loss of millions of high-quality, family-supporting jobs and hollowed out communities across our country. Efforts to strengthen critical domestic industries and infrastructure with high-quality jobs are essential to anchor resilient supply chains and ensure strong and secure local, national and global economies.
We welcome the continued focus by Congress and the Subcommittee on ensuring supply chain resilience but we cannot support the current bill which does not include labor as an integral stakeholder. The AFL-CIO represents hundreds of thousands of members in strategic and emerging sectors, across defense, critical minerals, semiconductors, advanced vehicle technology, electronics, medical technology, and strategic energy infrastructure. Our members are on the front lines of critical supply chains – essential to every stage of production, transport and use of these critical technologies, and they are the essential workers we count on to respond in a crisis. The voice of these workers is absolutely essential to crafting an effective and durable supply chain resiliency strategy.
We are also concerned that the current draft is insufficient to the challenge facing our economy and security. In addition to inclusion of labor in key processes, it should include more robust provisions to enable Commerce to plan, coordinate and execute a supply chain strategy and program.
The AFL-CIO remains fully committed to working with the Subcommittee to improve this or other supply chain related legislation. However, we refuse to accept an approach that does not include a seat at the table for the very workers who will be critical to the success of these efforts to restore the health and resiliency of our supply chains. Thus, we urge you to vote no on this draft legislation.
Sincerely,
William Samuel
Director, Government Affairs