COVID–19 Emergency Medical Supplies Enhancement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6858 To enhance authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to respond to the COVID–19 emergency, to provide additional oversight of such authorities, and to require a strategy on securing supply chains for medical materials, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2020 Mr. VARGAS (for himself, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CROW, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. TRAHAN, and Ms. SLOTKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To enhance authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to respond to the COVID–19 emergency, to provide additional oversight of such authorities, and to require a strategy on securing supply chains for medical materials, 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 Emergency 4 Medical Supplies Enhancement Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6858 IH SEC. 2. DETERMINATION ON EMERGENCY SUPPLIES AND 1 RELATIONSHIP TO STATE AND LOCAL EF- 2 FORTS. 3 (a) DETERMINATION.—For the purposes of section 4 101 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 5 4511), the following materials shall be deemed to be scarce 6 and critical materials essential to the national defense and 7 otherwise meet the requirements of section 101(b) of such 8 Act during the COVID–19 emergency period: 9 (1) Diagnostic tests, including serological tests, 10 for COVID–19 and the reagents and other materials 11 necessary for producing or conducting such tests. 12 (2) Personal protective equipment, including 13 face shields, N–95 respirator masks, and any other 14 masks determined by the Secretary of Health and 15 Human Services to be needed to respond to the 16 COVID–19 pandemic, and the materials to produce 17 such equipment. 18 (3) Medical ventilators, the components nec- 19 essary to make such ventilators, and medicines need- 20 ed to use a ventilator as a treatment for any indi- 21 vidual who is hospitalized for COVID–19. 22 (4) Pharmaceuticals and any medicines deter- 23 mined by the Food and Drug Administration or an- 24 other Government agency to be effective in treating 25 COVID–19 (including vaccines for COVID–19) and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6858 IH any materials necessary to produce or use such 1 pharmaceuticals or medicines (including self-injec- 2 tion syringes or other delivery systems). 3 (5) Any other medical equipment or supplies 4 determined by the Secretary of Health and Human 5 Services or the Secretary of Homeland Security to 6 be scarce and critical materials essential to the na- 7 tional defense for purposes of section 101 of the De- 8 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511). 9 (b) EXERCISE OF TITLE I AUTHORITIES IN RELA- 10 TION TO CONTRACTS BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN- 11 MENTS.—In exercising authorities under title I of the De- 12 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511 et seq.) 13 during the COVID–19 emergency period, the President 14 (and any officer or employee of the United States to which 15 authorities under such title I have been delegated)— 16 (1) may exercise the prioritization or allocation 17 authority provided in such title I to exclude any ma- 18 terials described in subsection (a) ordered by a State 19 or local government that are scheduled to be deliv- 20 ered within 15 days of the time at which— 21 (A) the purchase order or contract by the 22 Federal Government for such materials is 23 made; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6858 IH (B) the materials are otherwise allocated 1 by the Federal Government under the authori- 2 ties contained in such Act; and 3 (2) shall, within 24 hours of any exercise of the 4 prioritization or allocation authority provided in such 5 title I— 6 (A) notify any State or local government if 7 the exercise of such authorities would delay the 8 receipt of such materials ordered by such gov- 9 ernment; and 10 (B) take such steps as may be necessary to 11 ensure that such materials ordered by such gov- 12 ernment are delivered in the shortest possible 13 period. 14 (c) UPDATE TO THE FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGU- 15 LATION.—Not later than 15 days after the date of the en- 16 actment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation 17 shall be revised to reflect the requirements of subsection 18 (b)(1). 19 SEC. 3. ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR. 20 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—The Congress— 21 (1) appreciates the willingness of private com- 22 panies not traditionally involved in producing items 23 for the health sector to volunteer to use their exper- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6858 IH tise and supply chains to produce essential medical 1 supplies and equipment; 2 (2) encourages other manufacturers to review 3 their existing capacity and to develop capacity to 4 produce essential medical supplies, medical equip- 5 ment, and medical treatments to address the 6 COVID–19 emergency; and 7 (3) commends and expresses deep appreciation 8 to individual citizens who have been producing per- 9 sonal protective equipment and other materials for, 10 in particular, use at hospitals in their community. 11 (b) OUTREACH REPRESENTATIVE.— 12 (1) DESIGNATION.—Consistent with the au- 13 thorities in title VII of the Defense Production Act 14 of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4551 et seq.), the Administrator 15 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in 16 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 17 Human Services, shall designate or shall appoint, 18 pursuant to section 703 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 19 4553), an individual to be known as the ‘‘Outreach 20 Representative’’. Such individual shall— 21 (A) be appointed from among individuals 22 with substantial experience in the private sector 23 in the production of medical supplies or equip- 24 ment; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6858 IH (B) act as the Government-wide single 1 point of contact during the COVID–19 emer- 2 gency for outreach to manufacturing companies 3 and their suppliers who may be interested in 4 producing medical supplies or equipment, in- 5 cluding the materials described under section 2. 6 (2) ENCOURAGING PARTNERSHIPS.—The Out- 7 reach Representative shall seek to develop partner- 8 ships between companies, in coordination with the 9 Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force or any over- 10 all coordinator appointed by the President to oversee 11 the response to the COVID–19 emergency, including 12 through the exercise of the authorities under section 13 708 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 14 U.S.C. 4558). 15 SEC. 4. ENHANCEMENT OF SUPPLY CHAIN PRODUCTION. 16 In exercising authority under title III of the Defense 17 Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.) with re- 18 spect to materials described in section 2, the President 19 shall seek to ensure that support is provided to companies 20 that comprise the supply chains for reagents, components, 21 raw materials, and other materials and items necessary 22 to produce or use the materials described in section 2. 23 SEC. 5. OVERSIGHT OF CURRENT ACTIVITY AND NEEDS. 24 (a) RESPONSE TO IMMEDIATE NEEDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6858 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 days after 1 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President, 2 in coordination with the National Response Coordi- 3 nation Center of the Federal Emergency Manage- 4 ment Agency, the Administrator of the Defense Lo- 5 gistics Agency, the Secretary of Health and Human 6 Services, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 7 heads of other Federal agencies (as appropriate), 8 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees a report assessing the immediate needs de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2) to combat the COVID–19 11 pandemic and the plan for meeting those immediate 12 needs. 13 (2) ASSESSMENT.—The report required by this 14 subsection shall include— 15 (A) an assessment of the needs for medical 16 supplies or equipment necessary to address the 17 needs of the population of the United States in- 18 fected by the virus SARS–CoV–2 that causes 19 COVID–19 and to prevent an increase in the 20 incidence of COVID–19 throughout the United 21 States, including diagnostic tests, serological 22 tests, medicines that have been approved by the 23 Food and Drug Administration to treat 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6858 IH COVID–19, and ventilators and medicines 1 needed to employ ventilators; 2 (B) based on meaningful consultations 3 with relevant stakeholders, an assessment of the 4 need for personal protective equipment and 5 other supplies (including diagnostic tests) re- 6 quired by— 7 (i) health professionals, health work- 8 ers, and hospital staff; 9 (ii) workers in industries and sectors 10 described in the ‘‘Advisory Memorandum 11 on Identification of Essential Critical In- 12 frastructure Workers during the COVID– 13 19 Response’’ issued by the Director of 14 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 15 Agency of the Department of Homeland 16 Security on April 17, 2020 (and any ex- 17 pansion of industries and sectors included 18 in updates to such advisory memorandum); 19 and 20 (iii) other workers determined to be 21 essential based on such consultation; 22 (C) an assessment of the quantities of 23 equipment and supplies in the Strategic Na- 24 tional Stockpile (established under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6858 IH 319F–2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 1 U.S.C. 247d–6b(a)(1))) as of the date of the re- 2 port, and the projected gap between the quan- 3 tities of equipment and supplies identified as 4 needed in the assessment under subparagraphs 5 (A) and (B) and the quantities in the Strategic 6 National Stockpile; 7 (D) an identification of the industry sec- 8 tors and manufacturers most ready to fulfill 9 purchase orders for such equipment and sup- 10 plies (including manufacturers that may be 11 incentivized) through the exercise of authority 12 under section 303(e) of the Defense Production 13 Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4533(e)) to modify, ex- 14 pand, or improve production processes to manu- 15 facture such equipment and supplies to respond 16 immediately to a need identified in subpara- 17 graph (A) or (B); 18 (E) an identification of Government-owned 19 and privately-owned stockpiles of such equip- 20 ment and supplies not included in the Strategic 21 National Stockpile that could be repaired or re- 22 furbished; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6858 IH (F) an identification of previously distrib- 1 uted critical supplies that can be redistributed 2 based on current need; 3 (G) a description of any exercise of the au- 4 thorities described under subsection (a)(5) or 5 (b)(1) of section 2; and 6 (H) an identification of critical areas of 7 need, by county and by areas identified by the 8 Indian Health Service, in the United States and 9 the metrics and criteria for identification as a 10 critical area. 11 (3) PLAN.—The report required by this sub- 12 section shall include a plan for meeting the imme- 13 diate needs to combat the COVID–19 pandemic, in- 14 cluding the needs described in paragraph (1). Such 15 plan shall include— 16 (A) each contract the Federal Government 17 has entered into to meet such needs, including 18 the purpose of each contract, the type and 19 amount of equipment, supplies, or services to be 20 provided under the contract, the entity per- 21 forming such contract, and the dollar amount 22 of each contract; 23 (B) each contract that the Federal Govern- 24 ment intends to enter into within 14 days after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6858 IH submission of such report, including the infor- 1 mation described in subparagraph (A) for each 2 such contract; and 3 (C) whether any of the contracts described 4 in subparagraph (A) or (B) have or will have a 5 priority rating under the Defense Production 6 Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.), including 7 purchase orders pursuant to Department of De- 8 fense Directive 4400.1 (or any successor direc- 9 tive), subpart A of part 101 of title 45, Code 10 of Federal Regulations, or any other applicable 11 authority. 12 (4) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The report 13 required by this subsection, and each update re- 14 quired by paragraph (5), shall include— 15 (A) any requests for equipment and sup- 16 plies from State or local governments and In- 17 dian Tribes, and an accompanying list of the 18 employers and unions consulted in developing 19 these requests; 20 (B) any modeling or formulas used to de- 21 termine allocation of equipment and supplies, 22 and any related chain of command issues on 23 making final decisions on allocations; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Jun 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6858.IH H6858 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6858 IH (C) the amount and destination of equip- 1 ment and supplies delivered; 2 (D) an explanation of why any portion of 3 any contract, whether to replenish the Strategic 4 National Stockpile or otherwise, will not be 5 filled; 6 (E) of products procured under this sec- 7 tion, the percentage of such products that are 8 used to replenish the Strategic National Stock- 9 pile, that are targeted to COVID–19 hotspots, 10 and that are use [Text truncated for display. 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