I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1466 To require the purchase by the Federal Government of certain medical sup- plies and protection equipment from the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 1, 2021 Mr. MCHENRY (for himself and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce, Vet- erans’ Affairs, Education and Labor, Ways and Means, Natural Re- sources, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the purchase by the Federal Government of cer- tain medical supplies and protection equipment from the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American PPE Supply 4 Chain Integrity Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1466 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE CERTAIN MEDICAL 1 SUPPLIES AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 2 EQUIPMENT FROM THE UNITED STATES. 3 (a) COVERED SECRETARIES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 5 any covered item purchased by a covered Secretary 6 shall be from the United States. For purposes of 7 this subsection, ‘‘from the United States’’ means 8 that 100 percent of a product is grown, reprocessed, 9 reused, or produced in the United States. 10 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 11 (1), the applicable covered Secretary may waive the 12 requirements of such paragraph if such covered Sec- 13 retary determines that satisfactory quality and suffi- 14 cient quantity of any such covered item from the 15 United States cannot be procured as and when need- 16 ed at United States market prices. This subsection 17 shall not apply to covered items that are or that in- 18 clude materials determined to be non-available in ac- 19 cordance with section 25.104 of title 48 of the Fed- 20 eral Acquisition Regulation. 21 (b) EXCEPTION FOR SMALL PURCHASES.—Sub- 22 section (a) shall not apply to purchases for amounts not 23 greater than $150,000. A proposed purchase or contract 24 for an amount greater than $150,000 may not be divided 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1466 IH into several purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in 1 order to qualify for this exception. 2 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec- 3 tion shall apply with respect to a purchase of a covered 4 item made pursuant to subsection (a) on or after the date 5 of the enactment of this Act. 6 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) COVERED ITEM.—The term ‘‘covered item’’ 8 means an article or item of— 9 (A) personal protective equipment (includ- 10 ing surgical masks, respirator masks and pow- 11 ered air purifying respirators and required fil- 12 ters, face shields and protective eyewear, sur- 13 gical and isolation gowns, and head and foot 14 coverings) or clothing, and the materials and 15 components thereof, other than sensors, elec- 16 tronics, or other items added to and not nor- 17 mally associated with such personal protective 18 equipment or clothing; 19 (B) sanitizing and disinfecting wipes, pri- 20 vacy curtains, beds and bedding, testing swabs, 21 gauze and bandages, tents, tarpaulins, covers, 22 or bags; or 23 (C) cotton and other natural fiber prod- 24 ucts, woven silk or woven silk blends, spun silk 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1466 IH yarn for cartridge cloth, synthetic fabric or 1 coated synthetic fabric (including all textile fi- 2 bers and yarns that are for use in such fabrics), 3 canvas products, or wool (whether in the form 4 of fiber or yarn or contained in fabrics, mate- 5 rials, or manufactured articles). 6 (2) COVERED SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘covered 7 Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health and 8 Human Services, the Secretary of the Department of 9 Homeland Security, and the Secretary of the De- 10 partment of Veterans Affairs. 11 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP- 12 MENT. 13 (a) LIMITATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the President or the 15 President’s designee(s) shall promulgate regulations— 16 (1) to prohibit the use by any department or 17 agency of the Federal Government of reverse auc- 18 tions or lowest price technically acceptable con- 19 tracting methods for the procurement of personal 20 protective equipment if the level of quality or failure 21 of the item could result in exposure to infection, ill- 22 ness, or death; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1466 IH (2) to establish a preference for the use of best 1 value contracting methods for the procurement of 2 such equipment. 3 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO SMALL PURCHASE THRESHOLD 4 EXCEPTION TO SOURCING REQUIREMENTS 5 FOR CERTAIN ARTICLES. 6 Subsection (f) of section 604 the American Recovery 7 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (6 U.S.C. 453b) is amend- 8 ed to read as follows: 9 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR SMALL PURCHASES.— 10 ‘‘(1) Subsection (a) does not apply to purchases 11 for amounts not greater than $150,000. A proposed 12 purchase or contract for an amount greater than 13 $150,000 may not be divided into several purchases 14 or contracts for lesser amounts in order to qualify 15 for this exception. 16 ‘‘(2) On October 1 of each year evenly divisible 17 by 5, the Secretary of Homeland Security may ad- 18 just the dollar threshold in this subsection based on 19 changes in the Consumer Price Index. The Secretary 20 shall publish notice of any such adjustment in the 21 Federal Register, and the new price threshold shall 22 take effect on the date of publication.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1466 IH SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF THE BERRY AMENDMENT TO CER- 1 TAIN DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY PUR- 2 CHASES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2533a of title 10, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing new subsection: 6 ‘‘(l) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN DEFENSE LOGISTICS 7 AGENCY PURCHASES.—Subsection (a) applies to pur- 8 chases made by the Director of the Defense Logistics 9 Agency on behalf of the General Services Administration 10 or any other Federal agency.’’. 11 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec- 12 tion and the amendments made by this section shall apply 13 with respect to a purchase made under section 2533a of 14 title 10, United States Code, on or after the date of the 15 enactment of this Act. 16 SEC. 6. APPLICATION OF THE BERRY AMENDMENT TO CER- 17 TAIN MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND PERSONAL 18 PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2533a(b) of title 10, 20 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 21 following new paragraphs: 22 ‘‘(5) Surgical dressing materials. 23 ‘‘(6) Hospital and surgical clothing and related 24 special purpose items. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1466 IH ‘‘(7) Replenishable field medical sets, kits, and 1 outfits. 2 ‘‘(8) All textile medical supplies and equip- 3 ment.’’. 4 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec- 5 tion and the amendments made by this section shall apply 6 with respect to a purchase made under section 2533a of 7 title 10, United States Code, on or after the date of the 8 enactment of this Act. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1466.IH H1466 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS