[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3546-S3547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2112. Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs.
Shaheen, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Warren, Mr. Jones,
Mr. Bennet, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Markey, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Kaine,
Mr. Warner, Ms. Harris, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Brown, Mr. Schumer, and Mr.
Manchin) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the
bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title X, add the following:
Subtitle H--Transparency and Delivery of Medical Supplies
SEC. 1091. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Medical Supply
Transparency and Delivery Act''.
SEC. 1092. EMERGENCY PRODUCTION OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND
SUPPLIES TO ADDRESS COVID-19.
(a) Executive Officer for Critical Medical Equipment and
Supplies.--
(1) Appointment.--Not later than 3 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
appoint, detail, or temporarily assign a civilian to serve as
the Executive Officer for Critical Medical Equipment and
Supplies (in this section referred to as the ``Executive
Officer''), who shall--
(A) direct, through the National Response Coordination
Center of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
national production and distribution of critical medical
equipment and supplies, including personal protective
equipment, in support of the response of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
(commonly known as ``COVID-19''); and
(B) report directly to the Administrator of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency for the duration of the
appointment, detail, or temporary assignment.
(2) Qualifications.--The Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, shall select the individual to serve as
the Executive Officer from among individuals with sufficient
experience in defense and industrial acquisition and
production matters, including such matters as described in
section 668(a)(1)(B) of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Authorities.--The Executive Officer, acting through the
National Response Coordination Center and in direct
consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall use all
available Federal acquisition authorities, including the
authorities described under sections 101(b), 102, 301, 302,
303, 704, 705, 706, 708(c) and (d), and 710 of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511(b), 4512, 4531, 4532,
4533, 4554, 4555, 4556, 4558 (c) and (d), and 4560), to
oversee all acquisition and logistics functions related to
the response by the National Response Coordination Center to
COVID-19.
(4) Responsibilities.--The Executive Officer, as the
officer overseeing the acquisition and logistics functions of
the response by the National Response Coordination Center to
COVID-19, shall--
(A) receive all requests for equipment and supplies,
including personal protective equipment, from States and
Indian Tribes;
(B) make recommendations to the President on utilizing the
full authorities available under the Defense Production Act
of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to increase production
capacity as identified under subparagraphs (C) and (H) of
subsection (c)(1);
(C) ensure that allocation of critical resources is carried
out in a manner consistent with the needs identified in the
reports required by subsection (c);
(D) direct, in consultation with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Department of Health and Human
Services, the Defense Logistics Agency, and other Federal
agencies as appropriate, all distribution of critical
equipment and supplies to the States and Indian Tribes,
through existing commercial distributers where practical;
(E) communicate with State and local governments and Indian
Tribes with respect to availability and delivery schedule of
equipment and supplies;
(F) contribute to the COVID-19 strategic testing plan
required by title I of division B of the Paycheck Protection
Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116-139)
to ensure the Secretary of Health and Human Services includes
in that plan a comprehensive plan to scale production and
optimize distribution of COVID-19 tests, including molecular,
antigen, and serological tests, in the United States; and
(G) establish, in direct consultation with the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, and the heads of any other
appropriate Federal agencies, a comprehensive plan to address
necessary supply chain issues in order to rapidly scale up
production of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
(5) Transparency.--The Executive Officer shall make
available, including on a publicly available website,
information, updated not less frequently than every 3 days,
including--
(A) the reports required by subsection (c);
(B) requests for equipment and supplies from State
governments and Indian Tribes;
(C) standards used for data collection;
(D) modeling and any formulas used to determine allocation
of equipment and supplies, and any related chain of command
making final decisions on allocations;
(E) the amount and destination of equipment and supplies
delivered;
(F) an explanation of why any portion of a purchase order
placed under subsection (d), whether to replenish the
Strategic National Stockpile or otherwise, will not be
filled;
(G) the percentage amounts of procured products used to
replenish the Strategic National Stockpile, targeted to
COVID-19 hotspots, or going into the commercial market;
(H) metrics, formulas, and criteria used to determine
hotspots or areas of critical need at the State, county, and
Indian Health Service area level;
(I) production and procurement benchmarks, where
practicable; and
(J) results of the outreach and stakeholder reviews
required by subsection (c).
(6) Additional personnel.--The Secretary of Defense may
detail members of the armed forces on active duty, or
additional civilian employees of the Department of Defense,
as appropriate, with relevant experience in acquisition
matters, to support the Executive Officer.
(7) Termination.--The office of the Executive Officer shall
terminate 30 days after the Executive Officer certifies in
writing to Congress that all needs of States and Indian
Tribes identified in reports submitted under subsection (c)
have been met and all Federal Government stockpiles have been
replenished.
(b) Commercial Sector Participation.--
(1) In general.--The Executive Officer shall collect and
compile data from each of the commercial distributors that is
able to fulfill purchase orders authorized by this subtitle
through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Defense
Logistics Agency, the Department of Health and
[[Page S3547]]
Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and any
other appropriate Federal agencies.
(2) Data included.--The data to be collected and compiled
under paragraph (1) includes--
(A) the name and address of each delivery of supplies and
equipment under a purchase order authorized by this subtitle;
(B) the number of such supplies and equipment delivered;
and
(C) the date of each such delivery.
(c) Reports Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 7 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every 7 days thereafter until
the termination date described in subsection (a)(7), the
Executive Officer, in coordination with the National Response
Coordination Center of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of
Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and other Federal agencies as appropriate, shall
submit to Congress and the President, and publish in a timely
manner in the Federal Register a summary of, a report
including--
(A) an assessment of the needs of the States and Indian
Tribes for equipment and supplies necessary to prevent,
identify, mitigate, and recover from cases of COVID-19,
including personal protective equipment, ventilators, testing
supplies, construction supplies, and emergency food sources,
for each month during the 2-year period beginning on the date
of the enactment of this Act;
(B) an assessment of the quantities of equipment and
supplies in the Strategic National Stockpile as of the date
of the report and the projected gap between the quantities of
equipment and supplies identified as needed in the assessment
under subparagraph (A) and the quantities in the Stockpile;
(C) an identification of the industry sectors and
manufacturers most ready to fulfill purchase orders for such
equipment and supplies, including manufacturers that may be
incentivized, through the exercise of authority under section
303(e) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C.
4533(e)), to modify, expand, or improve production processes
to manufacture such equipment and supplies;
(D) an estimate of the funding and other measures necessary
to rapidly expand manufacturing production capacity for such
equipment and supplies, including--
(i) any efforts to expand, retool, or reconfigure
production lines;
(ii) any efforts to establish new production lines through
the purchase and installation of new equipment; or
(iii) the issuance of additional contracts, purchase
orders, purchase guarantees, or other similar measures;
(E) an identification of government and privately owned
stockpiles of equipment and supplies not included in the
Strategic National Stockpile that could be repaired or
refurbished;
(F) an identification of previously distributed critical
supplies that can be redistributed based on current need;
(G) an identification of critical areas of need by county
and Indian Health Service area in the United States and the
metrics and criteria for their identification as critical;
(H) an inventory of the national production capacity for
equipment and supplies identified as needed in the assessment
under subparagraph (A); and
(I) an identification of the needs of essential employees
and healthcare workers based on regular stakeholder reviews.
(2) Form of reports.--Each report required by paragraph (1)
shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a
classified annex.
(d) Purchase Orders.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 day after receiving a
report required under subsection (c), the President, using
authorities provided under the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.), shall--
(A) establish a fair and reasonable price for the sale of
equipment and supplies identified in the reports required by
subsection (c); and
(B) issue rated priority purchase orders pursuant to
Department of Defense Directive 4400.1, part 101, subpart A
of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other
applicable acquisition authority, to procure equipment and
supplies identified in the reports required by subsection
(c).
(2) Disposition of unused equipment and supplies.--Any
equipment or supplies produced pursuant to paragraph (1)
using amounts from the Defense Production Act Fund and in
excess of needs identified in reports required by subsection
(c) shall be deposited in the Strategic National Stockpile.
(3) Authorization of congress to impose price controls.--
Paragraph (1)(A) shall be deemed to be a joint resolution
authorizing the imposition of price controls for purposes of
section 104(a) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50
U.S.C. 4514(a)).
(e) Waiver of Certain Requirements.--The requirements of
sections 301(d)(1)(A), 302(d)(1), and subparagraphs (B) and
(C) of section 303(a)(6) of the Defense Production Act of
1950 (50 U.S.C. 4531(d)(1)(A), 4532(d)(1), and 4533(a)(6))
are waived for purposes of this section until the termination
date described in subsection (a)(6).
(f) Funding.--Amounts available in the Defense Production
Act Fund under section 304 of the Defense Production Act of
1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534) shall be available for purchases made
under this section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term ``Indian tribe'' in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25
U.S.C. 5304).
(2) Indian health service area.--The term ``Indian Health
Service area'' has the meaning given the term ``Service
area'' in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act
(25 U.S.C. 1603).
(3) State.--The term ``State'' means each State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United
States, and any other territory or possession of the United
States.
(4) Uniformed services.--The term ``uniformed services''
has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 37,
United States Code.
SEC. 1093. ANNUAL COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of
the United States shall submit to Congress a report assessing
the Strategic National Stockpile, including--
(1) recommendations for preparing for and responding to
future pandemics;
(2) recommendations for changes to the Strategic National
Stockpile, including to the management of the stockpile;
(3) in the case of the first report required to be
submitted under this section--
(A) an assessment with respect to how much personal
protective equipment used for the COVID-19 response was
sourced within the United States and how much was sourced
from the People's Republic of China and other foreign
countries; and
(B) recommendations with respect to how to ensure that the
United States supply chain for personal protective equipment
is better equipped to respond to emergencies, including
through the use of funds in the Defense Production Act Fund
under section 304 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50
U.S.C. 4534) to address shortages in that supply chain; and
(4) in the case of each subsequent report required to be
submitted under this section--
(A) an assessment with respect to how much personal
protective equipment was imported into the United States in
the year preceding submission of the report and, of that
equipment, how much would be used to prepare for and respond
to a future pandemic; and
(B) a review of the implementation during that year of the
recommendations required by paragraph (3)(B).
SEC. 1094. OVERSIGHT.
(a) In General.--The Chairperson of the Council of the
Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency shall
designate any Inspector General responsible for conducting
oversight of any program or operation performed in support of
this subtitle to oversee the implementation of this subtitle,
to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with the
duties, responsibilities, policies, and procedures of that
Inspector General.
(b) Removal.--The designation of an Inspector General under
subsection (a) may be terminated only for permanent
incapacity, inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or
conviction of a felony or conduct involving moral turpitude.
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