The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee pushed forward dozens of bills Wednesday, including legislation on disaster recovery and battery purchases.
H.R. 8631, the “Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act,” sailed through the panel. It would ban the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries from six companies with connections to China — two of which lawmakers have alleged have ties to Uyghur forced labor.
The bill was sponsored by a group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.). It passed the House by voice vote in September with bipartisan support, despite some Democrat concerns that the legislation could limit DHS’s ability to buy electric vehicles.
The Senate committee passed S. 5313, the “Rebuilding with Resilience Act,” unanimously, with two proxy no votes for the record. The bill from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to collaborate with state, local and tribal governments to ensure post-disaster rebuilding occurs with future natural disasters in mind.
