Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade held a hearing titled AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies . “The manufacturing sector is crucial to the American economy as it spurs job creation, supports innovation, and contributes significantly to GDP. The manufacturing sector also plays a key role in exporting goods and ensuring global competitiveness. The industry faces new opportunities as it fully embraces the potential of artificial intelligence applications that improve efficiency through automation, optimize supply chains, and enhance product quality,"   said Chairman Bilirakis .  "Yesterday's CMT hearing provided thoughtful insight as to how this sector of the American economy can utilize AI technologies to ensure America’s continued dominance in the field by further streamlining operations and increasing domestic manufacturing. We look forward to working with the administration and industry to that harnesses this potential.” Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from yesterday’s hearing: Subcommittee Vice Chairman Russ Fulcher (ID-01): “Manufacturing is the core of our economy. It contributes to more applications, is more sophisticated, and operates in a highly competitive environment with countries like China. China's manufacturing value-add and contribution to global GDP continues to outpace the United States and China produces more goods in the US in 9 of the top 11 manufacturing industries. But the US could outcompete and outperform China or any other country if we fully utilize our technologies, resources, and personnel…We need to learn how AI can help improve the production process, empowering the line worker to catch defects, innovate processes, and improve safety.” Congressman John James (MI-10): “I recognize the grand opportunity that we have in front of us to pass real, substantive policy to benefit the American people as it pertains to AI and manufacturing. If we don't lead in AI, the Chinese Communist Party will have all the brain power because they've stolen our IP, and they will have all the manpower because they're using slave labor to end Western civilization without firing a shot. It's simply not enough to close our eyes and hope for the best.” Congressman Russell Fry (SC-07): “Back home in my district, in Florence, South Carolina, GE Healthcare manufactures some of the best MRI machines and systems in the world. These systems are used to provide a high-quality patient care in the US and around the world. And they leverage AI to enhance imaging speed and quality, helping doctors make faster and more accurate diagnoses. But AI's impact extends far beyond just healthcare. It is improving forecasting, planning, and process optimization at GE healthcare is manufacturing facilities, ensuring efficiency from the production line to the supply chain.” ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing titled  AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies. Subcommittee Chairman Griffith's opening statement as prepared for delivery: “Good morning everyone and welcome to the first Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee hearing of the 119th Congress. I’d like to express my sincere congratulations to my good friend, the Chair, Mr. Guthrie, on his appointment to the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee – the oldest standing legislative committee in the House, and the best Committee in Congress. “I also want to thank the Chair for putting his faith in me to lead this important subcommittee, which has broad jurisdiction over a great many important matters. This will be a busy Congress and I’m excited to lay the groundwork to accomplish a robust legislative agenda. “I would be remiss if I didn’t identify and welcome to this wonderful panel the new members of the Energy and Commerce Committee: “Mr. Bentz from Oregon; Ms. Houchin from Indiana; Mr. Fry from South Carolina; Ms. Lee from Florida – and I’ll add a Go Gators to you my friend; Mr. Kean from New Jersey; Mr. Evans from Colorado; and Mr. Goldman from Texas. “I also want to thank my friend Russ Fulcher from the great State of Idaho for serving as the Vice Chair of this Subcommittee. “And finally, it is good to be sitting next to my friend, Ms. Schakowsky from Illinois. I’m greatly looking forward to working with you again, and all of the Members of this Subcommittee.” Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing “Now onto the business at hand. I’m excited to kick this Congress off with an educational hearing examining the state of American manufacturing, and how it can be revolutionized with the use of artificial intelligence. “We know generative AI is currently dominating the headlines for its specific use case of AI, such as how DeepSeek is capturing warranted attention with their collection of American’s personal data and subsequently sharing it with the Chinese Communist Party. “But I think we must remember that generative AI is only a specific use case of this technology, and AI’s applications are much broader than what has claimed the spotlight recently. We have seen how AI applied to vehicles is paving the way for the next generation of vehicles that will drive themselves. These autonomous vehicles promise to greatly improve auto safety and provide vast mobility benefits to every American – including those with disabilities. “We have also seen how the technology holds the power to completely revolutionize American manufacturing and bolster our supply chains.  By integrating AI and machine learning into supply chain systems, we can better predict constraints and find potential weak points which can be used to prevent shocks that disrupt entire industries. “Our committee has led on supply chain mapping and monitoring legislation before, and empowering companies to deploy emerging technologies like AI to better understand our supply chains could help us protect against the next pandemic or the next major labor shortage. We need to send that legislation to the President’s desk to begin the important work of making America more resilient. “Industries can also utilize the power of AI in our manufacturing ecosystems to find where redundancies exist and reduce waste in the developmental pipeline. To bring this country back to the forefront of what made it great, we need to reduce unnecessary waste and optimize our building capabilities. We know the American people are the most innovative in the world. Our job here in Congress will be to provide a pathway for these innovators to succeed. “America’s global leadership in the 21st century will be contingent on our ability to promote emerging technologies and establishing a pathway to unleash them throughout American manufacturing. We have a great panel of witnesses today to share examples of how AI is actively being used in manufacturing and supply chains. “I want to thank them for being here today amidst the bad weather to give us much needed testimony on such an important topic. I yield back.” ###

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, announced a hearing titled  AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies. “Our country’s rich manufacturing history has been a cornerstone of the American economy, driving entrepreneurship, job creation, and economic growth. New consumer-facing artificial intelligence applications have captured the public imagination, but the development and deployment of enterprise AI technologies has also transformed manufacturing in recent years. By fostering innovation, strengthening supply chains, and promoting a skilled workforce, we can secure American leadership in the next generation of manufacturing,”   said Chairmen Guthrie and Bilirakis.   “We look forward to rolling up our sleeves alongside workers in these industries to build a foundation for the next great American manufacturing revolution.” Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing titled  AI in Manufacturing: Securing American Leadership in Manufacturing and the Next Generation of Technologies. WHAT : Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing addressing technology in manufacturing. DATE : Wednesday, February 12, 2025 TIME : 10:00 AM ET LOCATION : 2123 Rayburn House Office Building This notice is at the direction of the Chairmen. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live streamed online at  https://energycommerce.house.gov.  If you have any questions concerning the hearing, please contact Alex Khlopin with the Committee staff at  Alex.Khlopin@mail.house.gov . If you have any press-related questions, please contact Daniel Kelly at  Daniel.Kelly@mail.house.gov . ###

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) today sent letters to five independent federal agencies urging the Biden-Harris administration appointees to abandon partisan efforts and instead focus remaining efforts on bipartisan, consensus items.   The letters state, “The results of the 2024 presidential election are now apparent and leadership of the [agency] will soon change. As a traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power, the [agency] should immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial item under consideration, consistent with applicable law and regulation.”    Click below to read each agency’s letter:   Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Federal Communications Commission (FCC)   Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)   Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Note: In the letter, Chair Rodgers urges NRC to continue timely implementation of the ADVANCE Act. 

Letter comes on the eve of athletes competing in the Paris Olympics and after WADA’s President refused to attend an Energy and Commerce Committee oversight hearing Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka, bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders pressed for answers regarding WADA’s handling of positive doping cases within China’s national swimming team ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The letter contains questions that bipartisan Committee Members would have asked during a recent Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing , which Mr. Banka was invited to attend but refused to appear. Witnesses that did testify at the hearing included: Michael Phelps, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Allison Schmitt, American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist   Travis Tygart , Chief Executive Officer, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) KEY EXCERPTS:   “We write today to express our sincere disappointment at your refusal to accept our invitation to attend and provide testimony at our recent Subcommittee hearing. Members of Congress have important questions for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and are especially concerned about recent reports of your handling of dozens of cases of doping within the Chinese swimming team.  “WADA purports to maintain the integrity of sports by creating a fair and competitive sporting environment free from doping. As a U.S. taxpayer supported entity, WADA has a responsibility to the American people to ensure this integrity by enforcing international testing requirements. We believe WADA has fallen short of this important mission. ”  [...]   “ We are particularly concerned with the excessive deference being extended toward CHINADA—a state-funded operation with leadership deeply intertwined with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as current [Chinese Anti-Doping Agency] CHINADA director Li Zhiquan also serves as a Committee Secretary for the CCP. At a meeting in 2023, Zhiquan called on CHINADA employees to be 'loyal to the party' and to 'hold high the great banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.' Furthermore, WADA’s reported sponsorship arrangement with ANTA Sports—the Chinese athletic company sponsoring the Chinese Olympic Committee and China’s national swimming federation—could be perceived as a conflict of interest. Since WADA is expected to uphold and maintain international anti-doping standards, WADA’s apparent lack of skepticism and failure to enforce the rules against CHINADA is troubling. While we are aware that WADA has opened an investigation, we are concerned that international scrutiny was necessary to force due diligence that should be routine .”  [...]  “This incident unfortunately reinforces our concern that WADA appears to be reverting to its previous poor management practices.”  [...]  “With the Paris Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony just a day away , the Committee seeks to better understand the circumstances surrounding WADA’s decision not to appeal the decision to clear the twenty-three swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine.”   BACKGROUND :  In January 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers (“23 swimmers”) tested positive for trimetazidine, or TMZ, a banned substance improperly used to increase stamina and hasten recovery times.  Three months after the positive tests, CHINADA initiated an investigation into the source of the TMZ and by June 2021 claimed the athletes ingested the banned substance through food tainted in a hotel kitchen.  According to reporting, Chinese investigators “offered no explanation […] for how a prescription drug available only in pill form had contaminated an entire kitchen.”  In reliance on “external legal advice” and its science department, WADA determined that CHINADA’s claims were “plausible” and chose not to appeal the decision or further investigate the matter.  Three of these Chinese swimmers went on to win gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in July of 2021.  China has selected 11 swimmers that tested positive for TMZ before the Tokyo Games to compete in the upcoming Paris Games.  In a strikingly similar case, Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater, also tested positive for the banned substance TMZ during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.  The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) issued a provisional suspension but was quickly cleared by RUSADA’s discipline board, since Valieva claimed she ingested the substance by mistake through a contaminated source.  Rather than simply accept RUSADA’s contamination explanation, WADA appealed the decision and ultimately, Valieva received a four-year ban from competition and was retroactively stripped of her gold medal. The letter was signed by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Ranking Member Kathy Castor (D-FL). CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Oversight and Acoountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) sent letters to eight federal agencies today following the recent Supreme Court decision on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , in which the court overruled Chevron deference. Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) joined Chairs Rodgers and Comer on an additional letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “We write to call to your attention Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a recent Supreme Court decision that precludes courts from deferring to agency interpretations when the statutes are ambiguous. In its decision, the Court explicitly overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), which required deference to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. By allowing such deference, the Court in Chevron enabled the ‘Administrative State’ to usurp the legislative authority that the Constitution grants exclusively to Congress in Article I. The Chevron decision led to broader, more costly and more invasive agency regulation of Americans’ lives, liberty, and property.   “Perhaps no administration has gone as far as President Biden’s in issuing sweeping Executive edicts based on questionable assertions of agency authority. The Biden administration has promulgated far more major rules, imposing vast costs and paperwork burdens, than either its most recent predecessors. Many of these rules...have been based on overreaching interpretations of statutes enacted by Congress years ago, before the issues now regulated were even imagined.   “The expansive Chevron deference has undermined our system of government, creating an unaccountable Administrative State. Thankfully, the Court has now corrected this pattern, reaffirming that ‘[i]t is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’ Given the Biden administration’s record of agency overreach, we are compelled to underscore the implications of Loper Bright and remind you of the limitations it has set on your authority.”   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Environmental Protection Agency. CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Communications Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Trade Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to Department of Commerce.   CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Department of Energy.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  CLICK HERE to read the letter to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration.