President Joe Biden is enacting the Defense Production Act to combat the continuing shortage of infant formulas, which requires companies to provide formulas to manufacturers before anyone uses them, the White House said Wednesday.
Biden also launched what the administration calls “Operation Pilot Formula,” which allows Department of Defense planes to take the formula from overseas and deliver it to the United States. Congressmen from both sides have asked Biden to use the Defense Production Act to help ease the deficit in recent weeks.
These two steps are the latest steps the White House is taking to end a situation that has worsened since a large infant formula factory -made in Michigan was called and then shut down.
Four children were taken to the hospital with a bacterial infection after drinking formula from a Michigan factory owned by Abbott Labs. Two of the children died.
White House National Economic Council director Brian Dizz said the president was acting fast and strong Written on Twitter. “These are the main actions that will reduce the abortion of the abortive infant formula factory as much as possible.
Rising imports are the most likely short-term way to increase supply in the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration announced an accelerated process to approve additional imports earlier this week. Allow agriculture and health and human services departments to use military planes to ship the formula – instead of relying on commercial planes, the formula will help them store shelves faster.
The White House and the formula industry said formula production was higher than before the recall, but store shelves across the country remain bare and many large retailers are restricting formula sales to avoid collection.
Democrats in the Senate are lobbying Biden to name a particular person for the formula crisis. Led by Senators Pete Murray (D-Wash.) And Bob Casey (D-Pa.), 30 senators wrote to the president on Wednesday asking him to appoint a formal political coordinator and develop a national strategy to address the crisis.
We need organized leadership and a clear plan to address this crisis. The senators wrote. “We can’t stop fixing this problem until babies are fed.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.