Congresswoman Harshbarger: Federal security and intelligence agency reaffirms critical infrastructure designation for Bristol, TN plant
A pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Bristol, TN has maintained its critical infrastructure designation.
It comes after TN 1st District Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger sent a letter to Brandon Wales, Acting Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, asking to reaffirm the designation for Neopharma.
Harshbarger says this is the only domestic turn-key facility to allow for full production of penicillin. The Republican representative said the following in a statement:
“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.”
Photo Courtesy: Neopharma
