Reps. Sykes, Crawford Introduce The Support For Quantum Supply Chains Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representatives Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Rick Crawford (AR-01) introduced the Support For Quantum Supply Chains Act, legislation to accelerate the development of secure, resilient, and reliable domestic supply chains for quantum technologies and quantum supporting technologies.
Quantum technologies have the potential to vastly improve computing speeds and performance, sensing capabilities, and the security of communications. Currently, quantum technology can be found in a wide range of products including MRI scanners for medical imaging, lasers, solar cells, electron microscopes, and atomic clocks used for GPS.
Quantum technology is particularly important for the healthcare industry, as quantum technology could be used to develop new medical therapies and diagnostics to improve the overall health of our communities. Healthcare is one the largest industries in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.
“Quantum technology has the power to fundamentally revolutionize healthcare, construction, national security, finance, and more, leading to better lives for people in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District and across the nation. But we cannot take full advantage of this technology if we do not have a secure infrastructure to support innovation. The Support for Quantum Supply Chains Act will strengthen our domestic supply chains and advance American competitiveness to ensure our country establishes itself as a leader in this fast-growing technology,” said Rep. Sykes.
“Relying heavily on foreign nations to supply components critical to quantum technology threatens both domestic growth and our national security,” said Rep. Crawford. “I am pleased to join Representative Sykes in her efforts to address this issue through the Support for Quantum Supply Chains Act, which creates public-private partnerships to identify quantum supply chain vulnerabilities, as well as opportunities and solutions. Now is the time to support American innovation in quantum as we seek to shore up our security posture as China becomes increasingly belligerent.”
One of the biggest challenges facing the emerging U.S. quantum industry is a lack of secure and reliable domestic supply chains. Some essential products or materials that enable quantum information science are only made by specific companies in other countries, and very few foundries for quantum-supporting components are located in the United States. Quantum technologies also rely heavily on rare earths, which may be at risk and subject to supply and pricing changes by adversarial nations.
The Support for Quantum Supply Chains Act would advance quantum technology by amending the National Quantum Initiative Act (NQIA) to direct both the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), to support the development of reliable domestic supply chains for quantum technologies and quantum supporting technologies. NIST has a long history of supporting the development of domestic supply chains through its extramural manufacturing activities, including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program and the Manufacturing USA network. The agency will be able to leverage these existing programs and its expertise in quantum information science to support resilient supply chains for quantum technologies. Further, by leveraging the QED-C to identify supply chain supporting technologies to enhance American competitiveness in quantum information science, the federal government will be better able to support quantum industries and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities.
Full text for the Support for Quantum Supply Chains Act below.