Calling on the President to invoke the Defense Production Act to respond to COVID-19.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 906 Calling on the President to invoke the Defense Production Act to respond to COVID-19. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2020 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. PORTER, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. BACON, Mr. UPTON, Mr. ROD- NEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. TAYLOR, and Mr. HUIZENGA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services RESOLUTION Calling on the President to invoke the Defense Production Act to respond to COVID-19. Whereas the Defense Production Act of 1950 originated from World War II authorities and confers an ‘‘array of au- thorities to shape national defense preparedness pro- grams’’; Whereas the United States currently faces severe shortages of medical supplies necessary to respond to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, such as materials needed to test for COVID-19, ventilators and personal protective equipment; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR906.IH HR906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 906 IH Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is ‘‘encouraging healthcare systems to implement strategies to conserve supplies’’; Whereas, on February 29, 2020, the New York Times re- ported that a 2005 Federal study estimated that mechan- ical ventilators for 740,000 critically ill people would be necessary in the event of a severe flu pandemic, and ‘‘today, as the country faces the possibility of a wide- spread outbreak of a new respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus, there are nowhere near that many ven- tilators, and most are already in use’’; and Whereas failure to massively upscale the supplies available to protect Americans, test for new cases of COVID-19, and treat people who test positive could result in even more severe shortages that force health care workers to make harrowing choices and endanger American lives: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) calls upon the President to make urgent use 2 of all relevant authorities of the Defense Production 3 Act of 1950 to direct the domestic production of 4 supplies needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic; 5 (2) calls upon the President to immediately 6 share with Congress plans for the use of the Defense 7 Production Act authorities, including targets and 8 timelines for the production of supplies needed to 9 address the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the re- 10 sults of the ongoing use of these authorities; and 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR906.IH HR906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 906 IH (3) stands ready to make additional appropria- 1 tions available to meet the needs of Defense Produc- 2 tion Act invocation. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:16 Mar 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR906.IH HR906 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS