WASHINGTON – Chris Mitchell, vice president of global government relations at IPC, released a statement regarding votes this past week in the US House of Representatives and US Senate to override President Trump’s veto of the Fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

“We commend the US Congress for keeping this vitally important legislation on track. Among the bill’s policy prescriptions for US military operations are provisions that will require the US Defense Department to implement new sourcing requirements and restrictions on bare printed circuit boards and PCB assemblies. Section 841 reflects the recommendations of many experts, including the DoD’s executive agent for PCBs, to redouble US government support for this long-neglected but critically important segment of the electronics manufacturing industry.

“IPC also appreciates that President Trump set aside his veto threat and signed the FY 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes $10 million for research into the issues surrounding lead-free electronics in mission-critical applications. The migration of the commercial electronics industry to lead-free technology has created supply-chain concerns for the ADHP sectors that can only be overcome through public-private R&D. These funds will support a collaborative research effort that will help ensure mission-critical systems have full access to cutting-edge electronics from a robust global supply chain.”