In Case You Missed It… Sen. Rick Scott Sits Down with Punchbowl to Talk Onshoring Drug Manufacturing and National Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Rick Scott, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, participated in a conversation with Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman yesterday to discuss onshoring American drug manufacturing and spotlighted the need for the Consumer Labeling for Enhanced API Reporting and Legitimate Accountability for Base Entity Listings (CLEAR LABELS) Act.

They also discussed the national security implications of relying on drugs made in China, as well as next steps for reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

HIGHLIGHTS

FISA:

"Number one, we've got to have some sort of warrant requirement. Do you know how many people got fired from the FBI for surveilling Americans? Zero. If they're never going to fire people for doing the wrong thing, why would [they] stop?"

The second thing is, there should be no digital currency. If you want to lose all your rights, have the government create a digital currency then whenever they don't like you, they can just take away all your money."

CLEAR LABLES ACT:

"Any piece of clothing you have on, you can look and tell where it was made. You go to a grocery store, any piece of produce you buy, you know exactly where it's made. You buy a drug- you have no earthly idea. That's stupidity… we've got to have transparency with the CLEAR LABELS Act, we've got to get the federal government to start buying American products, and we've got to have a roadmap of where all of our drugs come from so we can make better decisions"

NATIONAL SECURITY:

"China is trying to demolish our way of life. They're killing our kids with fentanyl, they're stealing our jobs, they're trying to surveille us. There's nothing good about the government of China… We can't be dependent on them for anything."

BACKGROUND

The CLEAR LABELS Act would require prescription drug labels to disclose the original manufacturers of prescription drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to ensure patients, providers, and regulators have clear, upfront information about where the drugs they rely on day after day are made.

In October 2025, Senate Aging Committee Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand released an investigative report titled "Protecting Seniors' Access to Essential Medications: Securing the Foreign Generic Pharmaceutical Supply Chain." The report focused on America's dangerous overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs, which are largely imported from India and China. According to a 2025 study, the occurrence of serious adverse events for generic drugs manufactured in India was 54% higher than for equivalent drugs that were manufactured in the United States. Adverse events were hospitalization, disability, and death. Chairman Scott has been a leading advocate for American drug supply chain transparency and reform.

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