Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) yesterday voted to strengthen the overseas supply chain and bolster exports from American businesses with H.R. 4996, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. This is the latest legislative action taken by the Democratic House to fix the supply chain struggles that are impacting American consumers and businesses as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“Snags in the supply chain can have wide-reaching impacts — whether it's overseas chip producers disrupting car manufacturing or, as we saw in the early days of the pandemic, toilet paper shortages,” said Rep. Scanlon. “In recent months, I’ve seen and heard from many constituents about how supply chain issues are hurting Pennsylvania families and businesses: inflicting higher costs, added delays, and more shortages. That is why I proudly voted for the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which will help iron out bottlenecks in the shipping industry so families can buy what they need and businesses can get their goods to market.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains around the world, creating shortages and bottlenecks that have added costs and delays for both businesses and consumers. American families are struggling with higher prices, while American businesses have found it difficult to get the necessary materials at a fair and reasonable cost.

The bipartisan Ocean Shipping Reform Act, represents the first major modernization of the global ocean shipping industry since 1998, and will:

• Ensure fairness in ocean shipping by prohibiting ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing to transport American cargo.
• Strengthen the overseas supply chain by combating unfair and disruptive business practices by shipping companies.
• Bolster the Federal Maritime Commission so that it has the resources to hold wealthy shipping companies accountable.

The National Retail Federation wrote in support of this legislation: “While the bill cannot solve all current supply chain disruption issues, it will go a long way to address some of the core issues that existed well before the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This vote is the latest action Democrats have taken to address and remediate supply chain issues. In November, the House passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which secured $17 billion in new funding for ports and waterways. Democrats also included an additional $5 billion in the House-passed Build Back Better Act to identify and resolve critical supply chain vulnerabilities that imperil our national and economic security. Congresswoman Scanlon also continues to work closely with the Biden administration to address supply chain issues raised by her constituents. 

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