The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act (SB99) directs the Secretary of Commerce to produce a comprehensive report within one year identifying which Office and Bureau within the department handle critical supply chain resilience and manufacturing/industrial innovation. The report must map each covered office’s duties, programs, and expertise, and assess their purpose, authority, effectiveness, and limitations.
It also requires identifying gaps and duplications across DoC units and offering concrete recommendations to optimize operations, improve cross‑office coordination, and align with other federal agencies. The Secretary must contract with the National Academy of Public Administration to prepare the report.
Within 180 days after the report is produced, the Secretary must submit the report, recommendations for potential legislative action, and a Secretary‑level response to the appropriate congressional committees.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires a DoC‑wide assessment identifying offices/bureaus, their duties and programs related to critical supply chain resilience and manufacturing/industrial innovation, plus a path to improved coordination.
Who It Affects
The DoC’s covered offices and bureaus, Congress’s Commerce/Science and Transportation and Energy and Commerce committees, and the National Academy of Public Administration as the report contractor.
Why It Matters
Sets a baseline for governance and coordination across DoC programs affecting resilience and manufacturing, aiming to improve efficiency, reduce gaps, and inform potential legislative fixes.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The bill asks the Department of Commerce to conduct a comprehensive, department‑wide assessment of who is doing what in the realm of critical supply chain resilience and manufacturing/industrial innovation. It defines which offices and bureaus fall under this effort and instructs the Secretary to catalog each unit’s duties, programs, and expertise, then evaluate their effectiveness, authority, and any gaps or overlaps with other DoC units.
The goal is to identify ways to optimize operations within the department and to improve coordination not only across DoC but also with other federal agencies that perform related activities. The National Academy of Public Administration would be hired to conduct this study, lending independent expertise to the analysis.
After the study is completed, the Secretary must deliver the findings to Congress within 180 days, including suggested legislative actions and a formal response to those recommendations.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Secretary must produce a report within one year identifying DoC offices/bureaus tied to critical supply chain resilience and manufacturing/industrial innovation.
The report requires mapping each unit’s duties, programs, and relevant expertise.
The assessment will evaluate purpose, statutory authority, effectiveness, and limitations of each unit.
A contract must be awarded to the National Academy of Public Administration to prepare the report.
Within 180 days of producing the report, the Secretary must submit the report, any legislative action recommendations, and a response to Congress.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
This section designates the act as the Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, setting the formal name used in all references and communications.
Definitions
Key terms are defined to scope the study: which committees are the appropriate ones, what counts as a covered office or bureau within DoC, what constitutes a critical supply chain and its resilience, what manufacturing and industrial innovation entails, and who the Secretary is.
Study Relating to Manufacturing Programs of the Department of Commerce
This section lays out the core study: within one year, the Secretary must produce a report identifying the relevant DoC entities, their duties and programs, and their authority and limitations. It directs the Secretary to identify gaps and duplications across offices and to provide actionable recommendations to optimize operations and improve cross‑office and interagency coordination. It also requires contracting with the National Academy of Public Administration and, within 180 days after the report’s completion, delivering the report, recommendations for potential legislative action, and a Secretary response to Congress.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Economy across all five countries.
Explore Economy in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- U.S. manufacturers and manufacturing workers who rely on DoC programs for resilience and innovation, gaining clearer signals about program alignment and potential improvements.
- Covered Department of Commerce offices and bureaus, which will benefit from clearer roles and reduced duplication.
- Appropriate committees of Congress (Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation; House Energy and Commerce) through a comprehensive, actionable assessment.
- National Academy of Public Administration as the contracted evaluator, providing independent analysis.
- Critical supply chain sectors (defense industrial base, public health/biomedical readiness, ICT, energy, transportation, and agriculture) and their suppliers, via improved program clarity and coordination.
Who Bears the Cost
- DoC’s budget to fund the NAPA contract and the logistics of conducting the study.
- DoC offices/bureaus may incur data-collection and interagency coordination burdens.
- Manufacturers and supply chain participants may bear indirect costs if new reporting or coordination requirements arise.
- Other federal agencies may incur coordination costs as cross‑agency alignment improves.
- Taxpayers fund the study and potential ensuing recommendations.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
Whether a centralized, department‑level assessment will yield actionable, sector‑specific changes without undermining the autonomy and specialized focus of individual DoC offices.
The bill imposes a structured, department‑wide assessment that will map DoC offices and bureaus to their roles in critical supply chain resilience and manufacturing/industrial innovation, identify gaps and duplications, and offer improvements. By mandating an independent contractor (the National Academy of Public Administration) to produce the report and requiring a subsequent submission to Congress with legislative action recommendations and a secretary’s response, the measure creates a formal pathway for governance reform within DoC.
The main trade‑offs involve budgetary and administrative costs for the assessment and the risk that broad cross‑cutting reforms may require changes to multiple offices’ operating norms or authorities.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.