Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representatives Young Kim (CA-39) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Maria Salazar (FL-27) and Lou Correa (CA-46)
led a bipartisan letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) calling for a bipartisan Select Committee, with equal representation from both sides of the aisle to address the supply chain crisis hurting our economy, families, workers and small businesses across the country.
Representative Kim represents California’s 39th Congressional District in Southern California, where communities have been hurting from supply chain backlogs caused in part by ship bottlenecks at the San Pedro Bay Port Complex, including the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Approximately 40 percent of our nation’s imports are received at the San Pedro Bay Port Complex.
“Americans across the country continue to reel from the impacts of the supply chain crisis, especially the communities that I represent in Southern California. Supply chain bottlenecks are raising prices for workers, families and small businesses and our manufacturers and farms are having difficulties exporting goods overseas,” said Rep. Kim. “Congress must come together in a bipartisan way to address this economic and national security crisis that threatens to undermine U.S. competitiveness abroad. That is why I am proud to work with Rep. Sherrill and a bipartisan group of colleagues to call on House leadership to ensure Congress takes immediate steps to bring relief to our nation’s economy. I will do all I can to address the resiliency of our supply chain, make life more affordable for my constituents, support policies that spur economic growth and protect our national security.”
“Addressing the current shortfalls throughout our supply chain is imperative to continuing our economic recovery from the pandemic and addressing the very real impacts of inflation facing families across the country,” said Rep. Sherrill. “Today, I’m proud to be joining my colleagues in this call urging House leadership to take the necessary steps available to us to address this ongoing crisis. Families, businesses, and communities across northern New Jersey can’t afford to wait.”
“The heart of my district is only 45 minutes from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest port complex in the country. At a time when higher prices and shipping delays are hurting Americans, I’m taking action with my colleagues Rep. Young Kim (CA-39), Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) asking Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy to establish a bipartisan House Select Committee on the Supply Chain Crisis,” said Rep. Correa. “Working closely with industry leaders, this committee will deliver much-needed answers to the American people about the root causes of the supply chain crisis while finding long-term solutions to prevent similar crises from happening again. We are urging Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy to put a resolution on the House Floor to establish this Select Committee as soon as possible so we can get to work to help the American people.”
“The worldwide supply chain was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and made even worse by workforce shortages here at home,” said Rep. Salazar. “In July, the White House claimed these delays would be temporary. Five months later and less than two weeks from Christmas, commerce is gridlocked and families nationwide are still scrambling to find everything they need for their holiday celebrations. I urge my colleagues to support the establishment of a Select Committee on the Supply Chain Crisis to ensure we have the tools necessary to address the current crisis and prevent future ones.”
Reps. Carlos Gimenez (FL-26), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Dean Phillips (MN-03), David Valadao (CA-21), Brad Schneider (IL-10), Darrell Issa (CA-50), Norma Torres (CA-35), Don Bacon (NE-02) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) also joined in sending this bipartisan letter.
Read the letter HERE or below:
We write to you today to urge you to expeditiously establish a bipartisan House Select Committee on the Supply Chain Crisis. At a time when global trade has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American people deserve answers as to how our supply chains have broken down, what additional steps Congress can take to fix them, and how we can implement reforms that would prevent a similar crisis from occurring in the future.
For months, industry leaders have been highlighting the need to address critical shortages in our supply chain. One of the biggest issues faced is the lack of available chassis at essential ports such as the San Pedro Bay Port Complex, where container ships continue to face significant delays in wait times because terminals are full of boxes that truckers are unable to pick up due to chassis being unavailable. Limits on when empty containers can be returned are also an important factor in these delays.
The supply chain challenges do not end at our ports; they have continued to devastate multiple logistics industries across our nation. The semiconductor chip shortage has cost multiple industries billions of dollars in revenue, slowing America’s economic recovery and raising prices across the board. In addition, rail yards are currently so congested that they have had to restrict shipments from West Coast seaports to Chicago, the American trucking industry faces a record-setting shortage of over 80,000 drivers, and the warehouse industry has been operating above capacity while having another record 490,000 job openings in July 2021, creating delays for Americans along every step of the supply chain as they prepare for yet another holiday season. Small businesses in our districts have raised the significant challenges they face in stocking inventory at reasonable prices, which has forced them to reduce hiring and raise prices. These stories are all too common nationwide.
Clearly, this is a crisis that demands immediate attention beyond the steps that have already been taken. We respectfully request that you establish a Select Committee on the Supply Chain Crisis, with an equal number of Democratic and Republican members of Congress, which would be tasked with the specific duties of:
- Investigating the root causes of the supply chain crisis and its effect on each industry sector;
- Convening meetings and discussion sessions with relevant industry leaders; and
- Drafting and submitting a report to Congress based on the results of their investigation/discussions with recommendations on how to address our supply chain issues now and in the future.
A bipartisan Select Committee would have the opportunity to learn from a variety of stakeholders about the serious breakdowns in our supply chain, gather equal input from both sides of the aisle, and recommend meaningful solutions that will help industries get back to work and put goods back in Americans’ hands in a timely manner and at just price points. Furthermore, a Select Committee can serve as the main platform to resolve jurisdictional differences and better coordinate efforts among congressional committees. Rather than a piecemeal approach from Congress, our country needs to implement a comprehensive approach to resolve our supply chain crisis. We urge you to consider putting a resolution on the House Floor to establish this Select Committee as soon as possible.
