A resolution encouraging the President to use authorities provided by the Defense Production Act of 1950 to scale up the national response to the coronavirus crisis.

III 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. RES. 547 Encouraging the President to use authorities provided by the Defense Produc- tion Act of 1950 to scale up the national response to the coronavirus crisis. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2020 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. JONES, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CARPER, and Ms. SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs RESOLUTION Encouraging the President to use authorities provided by the Defense Production Act of 1950 to scale up the national response to the coronavirus crisis. Whereas more than 3,800 people in the United States have already tested positive for the novel coronavirus across 49 States, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories, with experts believing the number is already much higher; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have projected that between 160,000,000 and 214,000,000 people could be infected by the novel coronavirus in the United States over the course of the pandemic; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR547.IS SR547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 547 IS Whereas the United States health care sector is facing severe shortages of critical supplies for coronavirus testing and treatment, including personal protective equipment for staff and infected patients, N95 respirators, sanitizing materials, ventilators, and test kit supplies; Whereas the Strategic National Stockpile contains only a fraction of the supplies that the Department of Health and Human Services estimates will be necessary to re- spond to the coronavirus crisis, with the stockpile cur- rently holding less than 0.3 percent of the amount of res- pirators estimated to be necessary; Whereas the President has the existing authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to take immediate action to mobilize United States indus- try for emergency preparedness activities conducted pur- suant to title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re- lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et seq.), which has been previously used to respond to public health hazards; and Whereas the President issued a national emergency declara- tion relating to the novel coronavirus under section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) on March 13, 2020: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) calls on the President to use existing au- 2 thorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 3 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to massively and quickly 4 ramp up production in the United States of medical 5 supplies, including personal protective equipment, 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR547.IS SR547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 547 IS needed to respond to the ongoing public health 1 emergency driven by the spread of the novel 2 coronavirus; 3 (2) urges the President to prioritize the use of 4 those authorities to produce and secure additional 5 personal protective equipment, test kit supplies, res- 6 pirators, ventilators, and sanitizing materials for use 7 within the health care sector in the United States; 8 (3) supports the use of authorities under title 9 I of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 10 4511 et seq.) to allocate and control the distribution 11 of medical materials needed for testing and treating 12 the novel coronavirus, including by directing sup- 13 pliers to prioritize and accept government contracts 14 to restock the Strategic National Stockpile where 15 necessary; 16 (4) supports the use of authorities under title 17 III of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 18 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.) to provide financial incentives 19 to manufacturers and suppliers of critical medical 20 equipment, including loans, loan guarantees, direct 21 purchases, and purchase commitments; and 22 (5) supports the use of authorities under title 23 VII of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 24 U.S.C. 4551 et seq.) to establish voluntary agree- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR547.IS SR547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 547 IS ments between the Federal Government and private 1 industry that would allow for the temporary coordi- 2 nation of production of necessary and scarce medical 3 supplies. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR547.IS SR547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS