hello Jared,
It is a sim reader flex tape with connector.
The lack of touch functionality is usually related to screen damage during lifting / detaching from housing. Sometimes it's just a badly inserted connector into the port (check it necessarily and don't forget about the battery: the old principle of electronics - start with the battery when disconnecting and ending with connecting). Sometimes, unfortunately, damage is caused by unreflective disconnection of connectors from the motherboard and damage to them area.