[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6883 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6883

 To provide liability protection for meat processing facilities during 
             the COVID-19 outbreak, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2020

Mrs. Hartzler (for herself, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Hagedorn, Mr. 
    Crawford, Mr. Allen, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. Kelly of 
   Mississippi, Mr. Yoho, Mr. Emmer, and Mr. Conaway) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide liability protection for meat processing facilities during 
             the COVID-19 outbreak, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Protein Production and 
Consumer Access Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR MEAT PROCESSING FACILITIES IN 
              CERTAIN CIVIL ACTIONS RELATING TO COVID-19.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), a meat 
processing facility shall not be liable under Federal or State law for 
any act or omission of the facility with respect to any harm arising 
from exposure to, or infection by, the virus that causes COVID-19 
during a public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared 
pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
247d).
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply if the harm was 
caused by an act or omission constituting willful or criminal 
misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious 
flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed 
by the entity.
    (c) Preemption.--This section preempts the laws of a State or any 
political subdivision of a State to the extent that such laws are 
inconsistent with this section, unless such laws provide greater 
protection from liability.
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