A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 directs the Department of Homeland Security to conduct research and development into supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten national and economic security.
The Domains Critical to Homeland Security Act requires DHS to submit a report in December 2022 to identify critical domains and determine whether their disruption would pose a threat to homeland security in the future, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Tuesday.
The bill also requires the DHS secretary to submit an annual report to Congress detailing actions taken by the federal government to address weaknesses identified in critical domain supply chains.
The authors of the bill cited shortages of essential supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the immediate concerns facing the U.S. supply chain.
“Between shortages of medical supplies and semiconductors, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how offshoring of our manufacturing base has weakened our homeland security and this bipartisan legislation will direct DHS to address it,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said that taking actions to increase the production of critical supplies in the U.S. would also result in the creation of job opportunities for Americans.
President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law the FY 2022 NDAA, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending, a 5 percent increase from the previous defense policy measure enacted in FY 2021.
