COVID–19 Medical Production Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1720 To provide additional funding under the Defense Production Act of 1950 related to medical supplies and equipment directly related to combating the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. VARGAS (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To provide additional funding under the Defense Production Act of 1950 related to medical supplies and equipment directly related to combating the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Medical 4 Production Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1720 IH SEC. 2. COVID–19 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SUPPLIES EN- 1 HANCEMENT. 2 (a) SUPPORTING ENHANCED USE OF THE DEFENSE 3 PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950.—In addition to funds other- 4 wise available, there is appropriated, out of amounts in 5 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 6 2021, $10,000,000,000, to remain available until Sep- 7 tember 30, 2025, to carry out titles I, III, and VII of the 8 Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) 9 in accordance with subsection (b). 10 (b) MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT.— 11 (1) TESTING, PPE, VACCINES, AND OTHER MA- 12 TERIALS.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), 13 amounts appropriated in subsection (a) shall be used 14 for the purchase, production (including the construc- 15 tion, repair, and retrofitting of government-owned or 16 private facilities as necessary), or distribution of 17 medical supplies and equipment (including durable 18 medical equipment) related to combating the 19 COVID–19 pandemic, including— 20 (A) in vitro diagnostic products (as defined 21 in section 809.3(a) of title 21, Code of Federal 22 Regulations) for the detection of SARS–CoV–2 23 or the diagnosis of the virus that causes 24 COVID–19, and the reagents and other mate- 25 rials necessary for producing, conducting, or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1720 IH administering such products, and the machin- 1 ery, equipment, laboratory capacity, or other 2 technology necessary to produce such products; 3 (B) face masks and personal protective 4 equipment, including face shields, nitrile gloves, 5 N–95 filtering facepiece respirators, and any 6 other masks or equipment (including durable 7 medical equipment) determined by the Sec- 8 retary of Health and Human Services to be 9 needed to respond to the COVID–19 pandemic, 10 and the materials, machinery, additional manu- 11 facturing lines or facilities, or other technology 12 necessary to produce such equipment; and 13 (C) drugs and devices (as those terms are 14 defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos- 15 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.)) and biologi- 16 cal products (as that term is defined by section 17 351 of the Public Health Service Act (42 18 U.S.C. 262)) that are approved, cleared, li- 19 censed, or authorized under either of such Acts 20 for use in treating or preventing COVID–19 21 and symptoms related to COVID–19, and any 22 materials, manufacturing machinery, additional 23 manufacturing or fill-finish lines or facilities, 24 technology, or equipment (including durable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1720 IH medical equipment) necessary to produce or use 1 such drugs, biological products, or devices (in- 2 cluding syringes, vials, or other supplies or 3 equipment related to delivery, distribution, or 4 administration). 5 (2) RESPONDING TO PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 6 GENCIES.—After September 30, 2022, amounts ap- 7 propriated in subsection (a) may be used for any ac- 8 tivity authorized by paragraph (1), or any other ac- 9 tivity that the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 10 ices determines to be necessary, to meet critical pub- 11 lic health needs of the United States, with respect 12 to any pathogen that the President has determined 13 has the potential for creating a public health emer- 14 gency. 15 (c) DELEGATION AUTHORITY.—For purposes of 16 using amounts appropriated in subsection (a), the Presi- 17 dent shall only delegate authority to— 18 (1) with respect to any uses described under 19 subsection (b), the Secretary of Health and Human 20 Services; 21 (2) with respect to uses described under sub- 22 section (b)(1), the head of any other agency respon- 23 sible for responding to the COVID–19 pandemic if 24 the President determines that such delegation is im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 May 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1720 IH portant to an effective response to such pandemic; 1 and 2 (3) with respect to uses described under sub- 3 section (b)(2), the head of any other agency respon- 4 sible for responding to any pathogen with the poten- 5 tial for creating a public health emergency if the 6 President determines that such delegation is impor- 7 tant to an effective response to a public health emer- 8 gency that may be created by such pathogen. 9 (d) APPLICATION OF LIMITATIONS UNDER THE DE- 10 FENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950.—The requirements 11 described in section 304(e) of the Defense Production Act 12 of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534(e)) shall not apply to the funds 13 appropriated in subsection (a) until September 30, 2025. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1720.IH H1720 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS