Letter to Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States - Congressman Tim Ryan Calls on President Biden to Source N-95 Masks from American-Made Manufacturers

Letter

Dear Mr. President,

We thank you for your decision to send high-quality masks to Americans at no cost, in conjunction with your plans to distribute at-home test kits to American households. This measure demonstrates our nation's commitment at this critical time to fighting COVID-19 while keeping Americans safe from this deadly virus. We must, however, support our domestic manufacturing industry by sourcing these masks from the dozens of domestic manufacturers and not through international acquisitions.

Sourcing international medical equipment provides potential adversaries with a strategic economic advantage while concurrently setting back the U.S. economy and American manufacturers. The Administration must replenish the Strategic National Stockpile with high quality, American-made FDA authorized or NIOSH-certified N95 or surgical masks. Doing so puts our nation back at pace with foreign adversaries, bolsters the U.S. economy, and preserves U.S. jobs in the manufacturing industry.

By purchasing American-made masks, you will be supporting a critical domestic industry that rose to the occasion during this pandemic to protect our frontline healthcare workers, essential workers, and citizens. Due to unfair trade practices from China, American mask manufacturers have suffered.

The American Mask Manufacturer's Association estimates that nearly 6,000 of the approximately 8,000 jobs that U.S. mask manufacturers created have since disappeared due to the lack of support that these companies have received due to the continued purchase of foreign made- particularly Chinese-made - products.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that most imported KN95s, for example, are counterfeit, and foreign-made PPE does not have the quality controls required for American-made products. The State of New York recently announced the need to replace 250,000 state-distributed KN95 masks citing quality concerns.

Replenishing the Strategic National Stockpile from domestic manufacturers ensures that the United States maintains a robust PPE manufacturing capacity. Doing so safeguards our nation, averting a situation where we must depend on foreign-made products as we had in the early days of the pandemic. Sourcing domestically manufactured products provides our nation's citizens confidence that the masks are safe, not counterfeit, defective products resulting in expanded usage of PPE sourced from the Strategic National Stockpile.

We thank you for your strong leadership in these challenging times and your demonstrated commitment to supporting American businesses and workers.

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