Make PPE in America Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8324 To provide for domestic sourcing of personal protective equipment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 Mr. BUDD (for himself and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Home- land Security, Education and Labor, and Oversight and Reform, 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 com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide for domestic sourcing of personal protective equipment, 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 ‘‘Make PPE in America 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8324 IH (1) The COVID–19 pandemic has exposed the 1 vulnerability of the United States supply chains for, 2 and lack of domestic production of, personal protec- 3 tive equipment (PPE). 4 (2) The United States requires a robust, secure, 5 and wholly domestic PPE supply chain to safeguard 6 public health and national security. 7 (3) Issuing a strategy that provides the govern- 8 ment’s anticipated needs over the next three years 9 will enable suppliers to assess what changes, if any, 10 are needed in their manufacturing capacity to meet 11 expected demands. 12 (4) In order to foster a domestic PPE supply 13 chain, United States industry needs a strong and 14 consistent demand signal from the Federal Govern- 15 ment providing the necessary certainty to expand 16 production capacity investment in the United States. 17 (5) In order to effectively incentivize investment 18 in the United States and the re-shoring of manufac- 19 turing, long-term contracts must be no shorter than 20 three years in duration. 21 (6) The United States needs a long-term invest- 22 ment strategy for the domestic production of PPE 23 items critical to the United States national response 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8324 IH to a public health crisis, including the COVID–19 1 pandemic. 2 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF LONG-TERM CONTRACTS FOR 3 DOMESTICALLY MANUFACTURED PERSONAL 4 PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. 5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 8 mittees’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on Health, Education, 10 Labor and Pensions, the Committee on Fi- 11 nance, the Committee on Homeland Security 12 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 13 Veterans’ Affairs, and the Committee on Armed 14 Services of the Senate; and 15 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com- 16 merce, the Committee on Ways and Means, the 17 Committee on Homeland Security, the Com- 18 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the Committee 19 on Armed Services of the House of Representa- 20 tives. 21 (2) COVERED SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘covered 22 Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 23 rity, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8324 IH the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Edu- 1 cation, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 2 (3) PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT; 3 PPE.—The term ‘‘personal protective equipment’’ or 4 ‘‘PPE’’ means surgical masks, respirator masks and 5 powered air purifying respirators and required fil- 6 ters, face shields and protective eyewear, gloves, dis- 7 posable and reusable surgical and isolation gowns, 8 and head and foot coverings, or other gear or cloth- 9 ing used to protect an individual from the trans- 10 mission of disease. 11 (4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 12 States’’ means the fifty states, the District of Co- 13 lumbia, and the possessions of the United States. 14 (b) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—Beginning 90 days 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, in order to 16 ensure the sustainment and expansion of personal protec- 17 tive equipment manufacturing in the United States and 18 meet the needs of the current pandemic response, any con- 19 tract for the procurement of personal protective equipment 20 entered into by a covered Secretary, or a covered Sec- 21 retary’s designee, shall— 22 (1) be issued for a duration of at least 3 years, 23 including a base period and all option periods, to 24 incentivize investment in the production of personal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8324 IH protective equipment and the materials and compo- 1 nents thereof in the United States; and 2 (2) be for personal protective equipment that— 3 (A) is grown, reprocessed, reused, or pro- 4 duced in the United States; and 5 (B) when assembled outside the United 6 States, contains only materials and components 7 that are grown, reprocessed, reused, or pro- 8 duced in the United States. 9 (c) AVAILABILITY EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (2) of 10 subsection (b) shall not apply to an item of personal pro- 11 tective equipment, or component or material thereof— 12 (1) that is, or that includes, a material listed in 13 section 25.104 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation 14 as one for which a non-availability determination has 15 been made; 16 (2) as to which the covered Secretary deter- 17 mines that a sufficient quantity of a satisfactory 18 quality that is grown, reprocessed, reused, or pro- 19 duced in the United States cannot be procured as, 20 and when, needed at United States market prices; or 21 (3) if, after maximizing to the extent feasible 22 sources consistent with subsection (b), the covered 23 Secretary certifies every 120 days that it is nec- 24 essary to procure personal protective equipment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8324 IH under alternate procedures to respond to the imme- 1 diate needs of a public health emergency. 2 (d) REPORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 5 of the Office of Management and Budget, in con- 6 sultation with the covered Secretaries, shall submit 7 to the chairs and ranking members of the appro- 8 priate congressional committees a report on the pro- 9 curement of personal protective equipment. 10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 11 paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: 12 (A) The United States long-term domestic 13 procurement strategy for PPE produced in the 14 United States, including strategies to 15 incentivize investment in and maintain United 16 States supply chains for all PPE sufficient to 17 meet the needs of the United States during a 18 public health emergency. 19 (B) An estimate of long-term demand 20 quantities for all PPE items procured by the 21 United States. 22 (C) Recommendations for congressional ac- 23 tion required to implement the United States 24 Government’s procurement strategy. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8324 IH (D) A determination whether all notifica- 1 tions, amendments, and other necessary actions 2 have been completed to bring the United States 3 existing international obligations into con- 4 formity with the statutory requirements of this 5 Act. 6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF TRANSFER OF EQUIP- 7 MENT.—A covered Secretary may transfer to the Strategic 8 National Stockpile established under section 319F–2 of 9 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6b) any 10 excess personal protective equipment acquired under a 11 contract executed pursuant to subsection (b). 12 (f) COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE- 13 MENTS.—This Act shall be applied in a manner consistent 14 with United States obligations under international agree- 15 ments. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8324.IH H8324 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS