VA Supply Chain Resiliency Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 887 To make certain improvements relating to the supply chain of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2021 Mr. MORAN (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To make certain improvements relating to the supply chain of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘VA Supply Chain Re- 4 siliency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SUPPLY 6 CHAIN RESILIENCY. 7 (a) REPORT ON CRITICAL ITEMS AND REQUIRE- 8 MENTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en- 9 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 887 IS shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 1 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 2 House of Representatives a report containing each of the 3 following: 4 (1) A description of the items and types of 5 items the Secretary considers critical with respect 6 to— 7 (A) the ongoing response to the 8 Coronavirus 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic; and 9 (B) future epidemic, pandemic, emergency, 10 national emergency, or natural disaster sce- 11 narios. 12 (2) The quantities of the items described in 13 paragraph (1) that are available, as of the date of 14 the enactment of this Act, in inventories, emergency 15 caches, or other emergency inventories of the De- 16 partment of Veterans Affairs. 17 (3) The anticipated quantities of the items de- 18 scribed in paragraph (1) that would be necessary 19 under potential epidemic, pandemic, emergency, na- 20 tional emergency, or natural disaster scenarios the 21 Secretary determines to be relevant for planning 22 purposes. 23 (4) The assumptions and key planning factors 24 used by the Secretary to identify the items, types of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 887 IS items, and necessary quantities of items for types of 1 scenarios, as described in paragraphs (1) and (3). 2 (b) PARTICIPATION IN WARSTOPPER PROGRAM.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of De- 6 fense shall enter into an agreement to provide for 7 the participation of the Department of Veterans Af- 8 fairs in the program known as the ‘‘Warstopper Pro- 9 gram’’ of the Defense Logistics Agency, or any suc- 10 cessor program. 11 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Pursuant to the agree- 12 ment under paragraph (1), the Defense Logistics 13 Agency shall— 14 (A) ensure the maintenance and stability 15 of the items that are identified as critical in the 16 report required under subsection (a) and that 17 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Sec- 18 retary of Defense determine are appropriate for 19 the Warstopper Program; 20 (B) establish guidance for the participation 21 of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 22 Warstopper Program that includes an identi- 23 fication of the items and types of items that are 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 887 IS critical to the needs of the Department of Vet- 1 erans Affairs; and 2 (C) use existing contracts and agreements 3 and enter into new contracts and agreements, 4 as necessary, with manufacturers and distribu- 5 tors to reserve the supply of such critical items 6 rather than rely on holding physical inventories 7 of such items. 8 (c) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 11 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com- 12 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 13 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 14 Representatives a report on the implementation of 15 this section. 16 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 17 paragraph (1) shall contain each the following: 18 (A) An implementation plan for the par- 19 ticipation of the Department of Veterans Af- 20 fairs in the Warstopper Program, including 21 milestones and timelines for related administra- 22 tive, contracting, and readiness activities. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 887 IS (B) For each of the items and associated 1 quantities identified in paragraphs (1) and (3) 2 of subsection (a)— 3 (i) the method by which the Secretary 4 of Veterans Affairs plans to ensure the De- 5 partment continues to have access to ade- 6 quate quantities of such items and types of 7 items, including in the Warstopper Pro- 8 gram and in regional, physical inventories; 9 and 10 (ii) justifications for the method or 11 methods identified under clause (i). 12 (3) UPDATES TO REPORT.—The Secretary shall 13 update the report required under paragraph (1) on 14 an annual basis for each of the two years following 15 the submission of the report under such paragraph 16 and submit such updates to the Committee on Vet- 17 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 18 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives. 19 (d) PROHIBITION ON EXCLUSIVE RELIANCE ON RE- 20 GIONAL INVENTORIES.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 21 fairs shall ensure that the Department does not exclusively 22 rely on holding regional, physical inventories of critical 23 items in order to respond to greater than expected needs 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 887 IS for such items during epidemic, pandemic, emergency, na- 1 tional emergency, or natural disaster situations. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Apr 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S887.IS S887 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS