To direct the President to use authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure an adequate supply of equipment necessary for limiting the spread of COVID-19.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6410 To direct the President to use authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure an adequate supply of equipment necessary for limiting the spread of COVID-19. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 27, 2020 Mr. LARSON of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To direct the President to use authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure an adequate supply of equipment necessary for limiting the spread of COVID-19. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 3 Congress makes the following findings: 4 (1) The global shortage of medical supplies due 5 to the COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed healthcare 6 systems around the world and threatens to collapse 7 the United States healthcare system. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6410.IH H6410 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6410 IH (2) There are approximately 160,000 ventila- 1 tors in the United States. 2 (3) It has been estimated that as many as 3 742,000 could be needed. 4 (4) The Department of Health and Human 5 Services estimated that healthcare providers may 6 need 3,500,000,000 face masks to meet potential 7 long-term need. 8 SEC. 2. USE OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT AUTHORITY 9 FOR EQUIPMENT NECESSARY FOR LIMITING 10 SPREAD OF COVID-19. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Immediately upon the enactment 12 of this Act, the President shall— 13 (1) determine under section 101(b) of the De- 14 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511(b)) 15 that— 16 (A) medical equipment described in para- 17 graph (3)(B) is scarce and critical material es- 18 sential to the national defense; and 19 (B) the requirements of the national de- 20 fense for such equipment cannot be met without 21 exercising the authorities provided by the De- 22 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 23 et seq.); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6410.IH H6410 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6410 IH (2) identify private sector capacity to produce 1 such equipment; and 2 (3) exercise the authorities provided by the De- 3 fense Production Act of 1950 to the extent nec- 4 essary— 5 (A) to mitigate, where possible, the de- 6 pendency of the United States on overseas 7 sources of supply of each such materials during 8 the global shortage; and 9 (B) to ensure the immediate adequacy of 10 productive capacity and supply of ventilators, 11 N–95 masks and other essential personal pro- 12 tective equipment needed to address the 13 COVID-19 crisis, including at least— 14 (i) 600,000 ventilators; and 15 (ii) 300,000,000 N–95 masks. 16 (b) REPORTS.—Beginning on the date of the declara- 17 tion of a national pandemic or the declaration of a public 18 health emergency and ending on the date that is 7 days 19 after the termination of such pandemic or emergency, the 20 head of the agency coordinating the National response to 21 the pandemic or emergency, shall submit to Congress 22 weekly reports on— 23 (1) the status of the production of equipment, 24 ventilators, and medical protective gear; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6410.IH H6410 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6410 IH (2) available resources; and 1 (3) the plan for the distribution of equipment, 2 ventilators, and medical protective gear. 3 (c) TERMINATION.—This section, and authorities 4 carried out pursuant to this section, shall terminate on 5 the date on which the national emergency declared under 6 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 7 relating to the COVID-19 outbreak, terminates. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Apr 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6410.IH H6410 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS