Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand of the Senate Special Committee on Aging will convene a hearing on March 11 to examine China’s influence over America’s pharmaceutical supply chain. The session, titled “Foreign Dependence: How China Captured America’s Drug Supply,” aims to highlight how state-directed industrial policy in China has led to its dominance in global pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The issue is significant because many Americans, especially older adults, rely on essential medications that are increasingly produced overseas. The committee says this dependence creates risks for public health and national security. Members and expert witnesses will discuss how U.S. trade, regulatory, and procurement decisions have contributed to the decline of domestic drug production capacity.
The hearing will feature testimony from former Congressman Ted Yoho, author Gordon G. Chang, author Rosemary Gibson, and Chan Harjivan of the Duke Margolis Institute for Health Policy. According to the committee, "This hearing builds on the Committee’s bipartisan efforts under Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gillibrand’s leadership to identify the policy failures that have enabled America’s foreign overreliance and advocate for advancing reforms that restore American control over these essential medicines." The CLEAR LABELS Act—a bipartisan proposal requiring clear disclosure of medicine origins—will also be discussed as a step toward greater transparency.
The Senate Aging Committee provides resources such as a fraud hotline to protect older Americans from financial exploitation according to the official website. The committee maintains offices in both the Dirksen Senate Office Building for the majority and Hart Senate Office Building for the minority according to the official website. Its work includes examining issues like Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, retirement security, conducting hearings and issuing reports according to the official website.
Rick Scott serves as chair and Kirsten Gillibrand as ranking member of the committee according to the official website. The committee's oversight extends nationwide across all aging-related federal programs according to the official website, including regular hearings on Medicare, Social Security, elder abuse prevention and related policy recommendations according to the official website.
Looking ahead, members say they hope these discussions will lead to reforms that strengthen domestic drug manufacturing capacity and reduce reliance on foreign sources.
