By ED ORLET and BUD DEFLAVIIS, NAED Government Relations

With the 118 Congress coming to a close, lawmakers were recently presented with a spending proposal (known as a continuing resolution) to fund the government through March of 2025.

NAED and our partners at NAW fought to have an important bipartisan provision known as the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act included in the bill.

The slightly altered version submitted to Congress last night mimics many of the items that NAED and others supported and is designed to enhance the resilience, stability, and security of supply chains, particularly for critical and emerging technologies. A stronger supply chain of these critical items will help to protect national security and economic competitiveness in times of distress.

Should the deal be signed into law, the Department of Commerce will work with a variety of stakeholders to analyze and assess supply chains and technologies crucial for national security.

The Department will also lead various working groups to manage supply chain issues, involving consultation with various stakeholders like industry, academia, and state and local governments to developing contingency plans for supply chain disruptions. From there, the Department is also expected to help encourage U.S. manufacturing in these critical areas, should vulnerabilities exist.

This is an exciting development, and NAED and NAW will continue to work to strengthen distribution's voice in Congress. NAED-NAW Letter - Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act of 2023.