COVID–19 Emergency Production Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7018 To require the President to use authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require emergency production of COVID–19 supplies to address the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 26, 2020 Mr. POCAN (for himself, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the President to use authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require emergency production of COVID–19 supplies to address the COVID–19 pan- demic, 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 Production Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:56 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7018.IH H7018 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7018 IH SEC. 2. EMERGENCY PRODUCTION OF SUPPLIES TO AD- 1 DRESS COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 day after the 3 date of the enactment of this section, the President shall— 4 (1) determine under section 101(b) of the De- 5 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511(b)) 6 that— 7 (A) COVID–19 supplies are a scarce and 8 critical material essential to the national de- 9 fense; and 10 (B) the requirements of the national de- 11 fense for such COVID–19 supplies cannot be 12 met without exercising the authorities provided 13 by the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 14 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.); 15 (2) identify private sector capacity to produce 16 such COVID–19 supplies; and 17 (3) exercise the authorities provided by the De- 18 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et 19 seq.) to the extent necessary— 20 (A) to require emergency production of the 21 supplies needed to respond to the COVID–19 22 pandemic; and 23 (B) to establish a fair and reasonable price 24 for the sale of COVID–19 supplies produced 25 pursuant to subparagraph (A). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:56 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7018.IH H7018 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7018 IH (b) COORDINATION.—The President shall coordinate 1 and direct the distribution of COVID–19 supplies pro- 2 duced under subsection (a)(3)(A) based on— 3 (1) requests submitted to the President by the 4 Governors of the States; and 5 (2) the needs of the States, as determined 6 based on the populations of each State. 7 (c) FUNDING.—Amounts available in the Defense 8 Production Act Fund under section 304 of the Defense 9 Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534) shall be avail- 10 able to carry out this section. 11 (d) TERMINATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall terminate 13 on the date on which there are no remaining re- 14 quests under subsection (b)(1). 15 (2) DISPOSITION OF UNUSED COVID–19 SUP- 16 PLIES.—Any COVID–19 supplies produced pursuant 17 to subsection (a)(3)(A) using amounts from the De- 18 fense Production Act Fund and unused as of the 19 date described in paragraph (1) shall be deposited in 20 the Strategic National Stockpile under section 21 319F–2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 22 247d–6b), including any such supplies authorized for 23 emergency use under section 564 of the Federal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:56 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7018.IH H7018 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7018 IH Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 360bbb– 1 3). 2 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 3 (1) COVID–19 SUPPLES.—The term ‘‘COVID– 4 19 supplies’’ includes— 5 (A) personal protective equipment, includ- 6 ing face shields, N–95 respirator masks, and 7 any other masks determined by the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services to be needed to re- 9 spond to the COVID–19 pandemic and the ma- 10 terials necessary to produce such personal pro- 11 tective equipment; 12 (B) diagnostic tests for COVID–19 and 13 the reagents and other materials necessary for 14 producing or conducting such tests; and 15 (C) any vaccine approved by the Food and 16 Drug Administration to prevent COVID–19 and 17 other materials necessary for producing and ad- 18 ministering such vaccines. 19 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 20 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 21 Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 22 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- 23 lands. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:56 Jun 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7018.IH H7018 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS