There are many rules and regulations governing the manufacturing sector, including the Defense Production Act, which helps to ensure the military is properly prepared.
The Act was passed in 1950 during the Korean War and was a part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort during the Cold War. The Act allows the president to issue executive orders for purchases that need to be completed quickly in order to maintain national security. It allows the president to establish regulations, orders, etc to allocate materials, services, and facilities to promote national defense. Finally, it also authorizes the president to control the civilian economy so that scare or critical materials necessary to national defense are available.
This was back in the 1980s, once upon a time and not so long ago, when the U.S.S.R. was a clear and present danger to the peace of the planet, and the Soviet Red Banner Fleet harbored the largest submarine force in the world. It was a time when slogans for “A six hundred ship Navy!” resounded through the Halls of Congress and the White House. It was a decade that saw the construction of some of the most awesomely powerful ships ever built: the giant Nimitz class aircraft carriers, the deadly and silent Los Angeles-class attack submarines, and the fiercely protective Ticonderoga-class AEGIS missile cruisers. By outspending the Soviet Union in naval forces year upon year, we contributed to Communism’s collapse, and the birth of the so-called Pax Americana. We played our part at