[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1742-S1744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mrs. Murray, Mr. 
        Romney, Mr. Jones, Mr. Blunt, Ms. Smith, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Reed, 
        Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Blumenthal):
  S. 3478. A bill to require a report to assess, evaluate, and address 
the dependence of the United States on critical drugs and devices 
sourced or manufactured outside of the United States; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.

[[Page S1743]]

  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3478

       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 ``Commission on America's 
     Medical Security Act''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONAL ACADEMIES REPORT ON AMERICA'S MEDICAL 
                   PRODUCT SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
     Services shall enter into an agreement with the National 
     Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (referred to 
     in this section as the ``National Academies'') to examine, 
     and, in a manner that does not compromise national security, 
     report on, the security of the United States medical product 
     supply chain.
       (b) Purposes.--The report developed under this section 
     shall--
       (1) assess and evaluate the dependence of the United 
     States, including the private commercial sector, States, and 
     the Federal Government, on critical drugs and devices that 
     are sourced or manufactured outside of the United States, 
     which may include an analysis of--
       (A) the supply chain of critical drugs and devices of 
     greatest priority to providing health care;
       (B) any potential public health security or national 
     security risks associated with reliance on critical drugs and 
     devices sourced or manufactured outside of the United States, 
     which may include responses to previous or existing shortages 
     or public health emergencies, such as infectious disease 
     outbreaks, bioterror attacks, and other public health 
     threats;
       (C) any existing supply chain information gaps, as 
     applicable; and
       (D) potential economic impact of increased domestic 
     manufacturing; and
       (2) provide recommendations, which may include a plan to 
     improve the resiliency of the supply chain for critical drugs 
     and devices as described in paragraph (1), and to address any 
     supply vulnerabilities or potential disruptions of such 
     products that would significantly affect or pose a threat to 
     public health security or national security, as appropriate, 
     which may include strategies to--
       (A) promote supply chain redundancy and contingency 
     planning;
       (B) encourage domestic manufacturing, including 
     consideration of economic impacts, if any;
       (C) improve supply chain information gaps;
       (D) improve planning considerations for medical product 
     supply chain capacity during public health emergencies; and
       (E) promote the accessibility of such drugs and devices.
       (c) Input.--In conducting the study and developing the 
     report under subsection (b), the National Academies shall--
       (1) consider input from the Department of Health and Human 
     Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department 
     of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the Department of 
     State, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of 
     Justice, and any other Federal agencies as appropriate; and
       (2) consult with relevant stakeholders, which may include 
     conducting public meetings and other forms of engagement, as 
     appropriate, with health care providers, medical professional 
     societies, State-based societies, public health experts, 
     State and local public health departments, State medical 
     boards, patient groups, medical product manufacturers, health 
     care distributors, wholesalers and group purchasing 
     organizations, pharmacists, and other entities with 
     experience in health care and public health, as appropriate.
       (d) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``device'' and 
     ``drug'' have the meanings given such terms in section 201 of 
     the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321).
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. THUNE (for himself and Ms. Stabenow):
  S. 3479. A bill to amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to encourage 
the planting of cover crops following prevented planting, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3479

       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 ``Cover Crop Flexibility Act 
     of 2020''.

     SEC. 2. COVER CROPS PLANTED DUE TO PREVENTED PLANTING.

       (a) In General.--Section 508A of the Federal Crop Insurance 
     Act (7 U.S.C. 1508a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(ii)--
       (i) by striking ``collect an indemnity'' and inserting the 
     following: ``collect--

       ``(I) an indemnity'';

       (ii) in subclause (I) (as so designated), by striking the 
     period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following:

       ``(II) an indemnity payment that is equal to the prevented 
     planting guarantee for the acreage for the first crop, if the 
     second crop--

       ``(aa) is an approved cover crop that--
       ``(AA) will be planted for use as animal feed or bedding 
     that is hayed, grazed (rotationally, adaptively, or at equal 
     to or less than the carrying capacity), or chopped outside of 
     the primary nesting season; or
       ``(BB) will not be harvested, such as a crop with an 
     intended use of being left standing or cover; and
       ``(bb) cannot be harvested for grain or other uses 
     unrelated to livestock forage or conservation, as determined 
     by the Corporation.''; and
       (B) in paragraph (3)--
       (i) by inserting ``a second crop described in item (aa) or 
     (bb) of paragraph (1)(B)(ii)(II), or'' before ``double 
     cropping''; and
       (ii) by striking ``make an election under paragraph 
     (1)(B)'' and inserting ``makes an election under paragraph 
     (1)(B)(ii)(I)''; and
       (2) by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(f) Prevented Planting Coverage Factors.--For producers 
     that plant cover crops following prevented planting, the 
     Corporation may provide separate prevented planting coverage 
     factors that include preplanting costs, the cost of cover 
     crop seed, and the cost of fencing and supplying water to 
     livestock.''.
       (b) Research and Development.--Section 522(c) of the 
     Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1522(c)) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(20) Cover crops.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Corporation shall carry out research 
     and development, or offer to enter into 1 or more contracts 
     with 1 or more qualified persons to carry out research and 
     development, regarding a policy to insure crops on fields 
     that regularly utilize cover crops.
       ``(B) Requirements.--Research and development under 
     subparagraph (A) shall include--
       ``(i) a review of prevented planting coverage factors 
     described in section 508A(f) and an evaluation of whether to 
     include cover crop seed costs and costs related to grazing in 
     the calculation of a factor;
       ``(ii) the extent to which cover crops reduce the risk of 
     subsequent prevented planting;
       ``(iii) the extent to which cover crops make crops more 
     resilient to or otherwise reduce the risk of loss resulting 
     from natural disasters such as drought;
       ``(iv) the extent to which increased regularity of using 
     cover crops or interactions with other practices such as 
     tillage or rotation affects risk reduction;
       ``(v) whether rotational, adaptive, or other prescribed 
     grazing of cover crops can maintain or improve risk 
     reduction; and
       ``(vi) how best to account for any reduced risk and provide 
     a benefit to producers using cover crops through a separate 
     plan or policy of insurance.
       ``(C) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
     enactment of this paragraph, the Corporation shall make 
     available on the website of the Corporation, and submit to 
     the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 
     the Senate, a report that--
       ``(i) describes the results of the research and development 
     carried out under subparagraph (A); and
       ``(ii) includes any recommendations with respect to those 
     results.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Sanders):
  S. 3496. A bill to provide for Federal financing of short-time 
compensation programs during public health emergencies; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am joined by several of my 
colleagues in introducing the Layoff Prevention Extension Act and the 
Preventing Layoffs During a Public Health Emergency Act. Both bills 
would renew Federal support for State short-time compensation--or work 
sharing--programs and provide assistance for States to adopt and 
improve existing programs in law. The latter bill would specifically 
activate financing for work sharing programs when there is a public 
health emergency.
  The coronavirus has officially reached a pandemic level, with an 
increasing impact on individual lives, communities, and businesses 
across the United States. Last week, I was pleased that the Senate 
voted on an overwhelming bipartisan basis to approve nearly $8 billion 
in supplemental funding for public health agencies to respond to this 
outbreak, but that was only the down payment.
  While Congress has taken initial steps to address coronavirus as a 
public health crisis and stop the spread of COVID-19, it is also 
important to support the workers, students, families, and businesses 
that are already being impacted as this outbreak ripples

[[Page S1744]]

across the economy. In response to a reduced workforce due to workers 
that are ill, quarantined, or have new caregiving duties, companies 
that are losing business may need to lay off workers--even those that 
are healthy, if they are unable to keep their doors open. We need to 
extend emergency UI benefits, but just as importantly, we should 
incentivize employers to not lay off workers for what we hope will be a 
temporary public health emergency.
  That is where work sharing can play a critical role, as it 
encourages, through the UI system, employers and employees to 
voluntarily reduce hours instead of laying people off. The concept of 
work sharing is simple--it provides an alternative to help businesses 
that are experiencing a temporary slowdown the chance to retain 
employees on a less than full-time basis. By giving struggling 
companies the flexibility to reduce hours instead of their workforce, 
work sharing programs prevent layoffs and help employers save money on 
rehiring costs. All the while, workers who otherwise would be in danger 
of losing their jobs completely--would keep their jobs instead, with 
the UI system making up for lost wages.
  According to the Department of Labor, work sharing saved 
approximately 570,000 jobs in the wake of the Great Recession (2008-
2015). As part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, 
Congress enacted my Layoff Prevention Act of 2012, which provided 
temporary Federal financing for 100 percent of work sharing benefits 
paid to workers. States also received -1/grants for implementation, 
improved administration, and program enrollment efforts. This 
assistance helped save over 130,000 jobs from 2012 to its sunset in 
2015. Multiple studies have found that communities that adopted more 
robust work-sharing programs weathered the recession with lower 
unemployment rates. But even more jobs could have been saved if these 
programs had been in place before business slowed down.
  The legislation I am introducing today would address the current 
public health emergency and help soften the blow of future slowdowns. 
The Preventing Layoffs During a Public Health Emergency Act would 
provide financing to States with and without formal work sharing laws 
during the period of a public health emergency, and up to one year 
after the termination of the emergency. The Layoff Prevention Act would 
provide a more permanent solution to give States an incentive to expand 
their work sharing programs to prevent future layoffs and blunt 
economic downturns.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and Senators Whitehouse and Sanders 
in supporting passage of both bills to keep American workers on the 
job, save taxpayers money, and provide employers with a practical, 
positive, and cost-effective alternative to layoffs.

                          ____________________