Cole Statement on House Votes Concerning Baby Formula Shortage

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted on two pieces of legislation concerning the nationwide baby formula shortage. This included passage of H.R. 7790, the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act, which Cole opposed, and H.R. 7791, the Access to Baby Formula Act,which he supported.

"While mothers and families struggle to find formula on the shelves to feed their children, Democrats decided to push through a bill that does not address the actual cause of the shortage. Unfortunately, the bill only creates the appearance of responding but doesn't actually do anything to solve the supply crisis," said Cole. "Furthermore, I am frustrated by reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was aware of this crisis beginning last year. That means there was ample opportunity to address the problem before it became a life and death situation. Although real lives are at stake, all H.R. 7790 does is hand a $28 million check to the Food and Drug Administration with no requirements or pathway to fix the baby formula shortage.

"Although I could not support H.R. 7790, I was proud to vote for the Access to Baby Formula Act. An actual bipartisan solution, H.R. 7791 would ensure American families do not experience similar shortages in the future by requiring manufacturers to develop plans to prevent shortages in the event production is disrupted and providing temporary, narrow flexibilities to states' Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs to allow continued access to formula during supply disruptions."

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