Congressman Josh Gottheimer Announces New Bipartisan Legislation

PARAMUS, NJ — Congressman Josh Gottheimer visited Stew Leonard's Farm Fresh grocery store this morning for a press conference where he announced new legislation and discussed rising costs of goods and COVID-19 related supply chain issues.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the COMPETES/Make It In America Act. Gottheimer said the bipartisan legislation will help boost domestic manufacturing, ease COVID-19 driven supply chain challenges and help bring prices down.

“More than two years later the COVID-19 economy is still wreaking havoc on the supply chain and prices for consumers,” said Gottheimer as he discussed the rising shipping prices and its affect on product prices.

This new legislation is part of Gottheimer’s Affordability Agenda for Jersey that is aimed at making life more affordable for North Jersey families and small businesses.

According to a statement, this agenda includes the following steps, all of which were passed in the COMPETES/Make It In America Act.

• Enacting bipartisan legislation to boost domestic manufacturing and American competitiveness by addressing supply chain issues, accelerating U.S. production of semiconductor chips, and reducing reliance of foreign countries.
• Setting a 30-day chokepoint count-down clock which means the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Transportation have a month to report to Congress and the public on the major current chokepoints in the nation’s supply chain.
• Cracking down on shipping companies that are gouging businesses and raising prices. This is to help bring down the prices of products in stores.
• Lastly, manufacturing more semiconductor chips in America through the CHIPS Act, to incentivize private-sector investments in making semiconductors in America and creating new jobs.

“The COVID-19 economy has had a real impact,” said Gottheimer. “Our job is to fight back against it and do everything we can to make life more affordable for our families.”