WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Access to Baby Formula Act into legislation at this time, serving to to make sure mothers and infants who depend on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) have the formulation they want amid the continuing scarcity. The invoice from Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and John Boozman (R-AR), the Committee’s Ranking Member, unanimously handed the Senate on May 19 after an amazing 414-9 vote within the House of Representatives.
“This legislation helps mother and father get their infants the formulation they want by ensuring there may be by no means a delay in getting assist out the door; and it’ll maintain child formulation producers accountable in the event that they wish to do enterprise with the USDA,” stated Senator Stabenow. “I’m pleased with my colleagues for coming collectively so shortly to take motion addressing this emergency.”
“There is an pressing want to assist households struggling to search out child formulation. Signing this invoice into legislation is important to making sure formulation producers and regulators are all the time ready to reply to any shortages or provide disruptions and offering extra flexibilities to USDA and states to assist mother and father meet their youngsters’s dietary wants,” stated Senator Boozman.
The WIC program offers info on wholesome consuming and helps tens of millions of households purchase nutritious meals together with child formulation. This legislation provides the USDA the authority they must be extra versatile throughout a disaster equivalent to a pure catastrophe, public well being emergency, or recall and lack presently dealing with our nation. This flexibility ensures that the model or sort of formulation households can purchase isn’t restricted by program guidelines, permitting households to buy no matter is obtainable within the retailer. In addition, the legislation requires formulation producers that present formulation for WIC infants have a plan in place to reply to a scarcity in order that households will have the ability to buy the formulation they want.
The Access to Baby Formula Act is supported by more than 250 nationwide, regional, and native little one diet advocates.
The invoice is cosponsored by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Hoeven (R-ND), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tina Smith (D-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Bob Casey (D-PA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Rob Portman (R-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Patty Murray (D-WA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Jon Tester (D-MT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
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https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/dem/press/release/president-biden-enacts-bipartisan-law-to-address-baby-formula-shortage
