Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger Statement on Critical Infrastructure Designation for Neopharma in Bristol, TN
Kingsport, TN- Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger released the following statement regarding the critical infrastructure designation for the Neopharma pharmaceutical manufacturing facility located in Bristol, TN. The plant is the only domestic turn-key facility to allow for the full production of penicillin.
“The reconstitution of our domestic manufacturing capability for life-saving penicillin is a national imperative,” said Congresswoman Harshbarger. “Our reliance on China and foreign-sourced raw materials for antibiotic production presents a severe deficiency in the reliability of the supply chain and actively undermines our national security and public health interests.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a critical threat to our security—overreliance on foreign resources to meet our public health needs. The domestic supply chain for these antibiotics must be rebuilt and preserved both to avoid any risk of supply shortages and to recover outsourced American jobs. I am pleased to confirm the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s intention to uphold the critical infrastructure designation for the Neopharma facility to support our national security and public health interests. This recognition underscores the significance of the facility and the jobs it stands to create right here in East Tennessee toward ensuring the resilience of our antibiotic supply.”
Background:
On January 15, 2021, Congresswoman Harshbarger sent a letter to Acting Director Brandon Wales of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to reaffirm the critical infrastructure designation for Neopharma. On February 4, 2021, CISA replied reaffirming the designation will remain in place.
According to CISA, there are 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national policy to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning, and resilient critical infrastructure.
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