U.S. Senate Aging Committee Chairman Rick Scott, Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand, and Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced the Pharmaceutical Investment Oversight and Accountability Act on July 15 to address foreign influence and control in the American drug supply chain.
Scott said, “America has let the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign entities quietly buy their way into our drug supply for too long, and it needs to end. Everything from manufacturing and ingredient suppliers to genomic sequencing technology is at stake. Washington has looked the other way for too long, and the truth is we don’t even know the full extent of how bad it is. That’s why I’m proud to be working together to bring greater transparency on the full scope of foreign influence and control in America’s pharmaceutical supply chain. Protecting American medicine from foreign control is a national security priority, and we need to act like it.”
Gillibrand said, “Americans’ access to lifesaving medication should not rely on supply chains controlled by foreign countries. The Pharmaceutical Investment Oversight and Accountability Act would help shine a light on foreign influence in our drug supply chain and bring overdue transparency to the public health and national security threats posed by overreliance on foreign capital and manufacturing. As the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, I will keep fighting to build better oversight tools to address modern supply chain risks and make sure every American has access to the medicines they need.”
Warren said, “For years, I’ve sounded the alarm that our dependence on foreign-made pharmaceuticals puts Americans at risk. Securing this investigation is the first step in strengthening our drug supply chains and ensuring Americans always have access to life-saving medicine.”
The proposed legislation requires both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to analyze levels of foreign control over U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing as well as sensitive biomedical technologies such as DNA sequencing.
The announcement came ahead of a committee hearing titled “Behind the Label: Foreign Ownership and Control in America’s Drug Supply Chain,” which will examine how overseas involvement may affect seniors’ access to essential medicines.
In October 2025, Scott and Gillibrand released an investigative report focused on U.S. reliance on imported generic drugs—particularly those sourced from China—and outlined concerns about national security risks tied with these dependencies.
Earlier this year, Scott introduced another measure with Gillibrand called The Consumer Labeling for Enhanced API Reporting and Legitimate Accountability for Base Entity Listings (CLEAR LABELS) Act requiring country-of-origin labeling for prescription drugs distributed within America.
Rick Scott serves as chair while Kirsten Gillibrand acts as ranking member of a committee that oversees federal programs such as Medicare, Social Security, elder abuse prevention initiatives through hearings and policy recommendations; its work extends nationwide across all aging-related federal programs including providing resources like a fraud hotline for older Americans, according to the official website.