II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3928 

To require the President to develop a plan for the continuity of the economy 

in response to a significant event, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2020 

Mr. PETERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the President to develop a plan for the continuity 

of the economy in response to a significant event, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuity of the 

5 Economy Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONTINUITY OF THE ECONOMY PLAN. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) The term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

9 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

10 Code. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘economic sector’’ means a sector 

2 of the economy of the United States. 

3 (3) The term ‘‘relevant actor’’ means— 

4 (A) the Federal Government; 

5 (B) a State, local, or Tribal government; 

6 or 

7 (C) the private sector. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘significant event’’ means an 

9 event that causes severe degradation to economic ac10 tivity in the United States due to— 

11 (A) a cyber attack; or 

12 (B) another significant event that is nat13 ural or human-caused. 

14 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the 

15 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

17 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

18 Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession of the 

19 United States. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall develop 

22 and maintain a plan to maintain and restore the 

23 economy of the United States in response to a sig24 nificant event. 


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1 (2) PRINCIPLES.—The plan required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall— 

3 (A) be consistent with— 

4 (i) a free market economy; and 

5 (ii) the rule of law; and 

6 (B) respect private property rights. 

7 (3) CONTENTS.—The plan required under para8 graph (1) shall— 

9 (A) examine the distribution of goods and 

10 services across the United States necessary for 

11 the reliable functioning of the United States 

12 during a significant event; 

13 (B) identify the economic functions of rel14 evant actors, the disruption, corruption, or dys15 function of which would have a debilitating ef16 fect in the United States on— 

17 (i) security; 

18 (ii) economic security; 

19 (iii) defense readiness; or 

20 (iv) public health or safety; 

21 (C) identify the critical distribution mecha22 nisms for each economic sector that should be 

23 prioritized for operation during a significant 

24 event, including— 


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1 (i) bulk power and electric trans2 mission systems; 

3 (ii) national and international finan4 cial systems, including wholesale payments, 

5 stocks, and currency exchanges; 

6 (iii) national and international com7 munications networks, data-hosting serv8 ices, and cloud services; 

9 (iv) interstate oil and natural gas 

10 pipelines; and 

11 (v) mechanisms for the interstate and 

12 international trade and distribution of ma13 terials, food, and medical supplies, includ14 ing road, rail, air, and maritime shipping; 

15 (D) identify economic functions of relevant 

16 actors, the disruption, corruption, or dysfunc17 tion of which would cause— 

18 (i) catastrophic economic loss; 

19 (ii) the loss of public confidence; or 

20 (iii) the widespread imperilment of 

21 human life; 

22 (E) identify the economic functions of rel23 evant actors that are so vital to the economy of 

24 the United States that the disruption, corrup25 tion, or dysfunction of those economic functions 


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1 would undermine response, recovery, or mobili2 zation efforts during a significant event; 

3 (F) incorporate, to the greatest extent 

4 practicable, the principles and practices con5 tained within Federal plans for the continuity 

6 of Government and continuity of operations; 

7 (G) identify— 

8 (i) industrial control networks on 

9 which the interests of national security 

10 outweigh the benefits of dependence on 

11 internet connectivity, including networks 

12 that are required to maintain defense read13 iness; and 

14 (ii) for each industrial control network 

15 described in clause (i), the most feasible 

16 and optimal locations for the installation 

17 of— 

18 (I) parallel services; 

19 (II) stand-alone analog services; 

20 and 

21 (III) services that are otherwise 

22 hardened against failure; 

23 (H) identify critical economic sectors for 

24 which the preservation of data in a protected, 

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1 quired for the quick recovery of the economy of 

2 the United States in the face of a significant 

3 disruption following a significant event; 

4 (I) include a list of raw materials, indus5 trial goods, and other items, the absence of 

6 which would significantly undermine the ability 

7 of the United States to sustain the functions 

8 described in subparagraphs (B), (D), and (E); 

9 (J) provide an analysis of supply chain di10 versification for the items described in subpara11 graph (I) in the event of a disruption caused by 

12 a significant event; 

13 (K) include— 

14 (i) a recommendation as to whether 

15 the United States should maintain a stra16 tegic reserve of one or more of the items 

17 described in subparagraph (I); and 

18 (ii) for each item described in sub19 paragraph (I) for which the President rec20 ommends maintaining a strategic reserve 

21 under clause (i), an identification of mech22 anisms for tracking inventory and avail23 ability of the item in the strategic reserve; 

24 (L) identify mechanisms in existence on 

25 the date of enactment of this Act and mechaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Jun 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3928.IS S3928

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1 nisms that can be developed to ensure that the 

2 swift transport and delivery of the items de3 scribed in subparagraph (I) is feasible in the 

4 event of a distribution network disturbance or 

5 degradation, including a distribution network 

6 disturbance or degradation caused by a signifi7 cant event; 

8 (M) include guidance for determining the 

9 prioritization for the distribution of the items 

10 described in subparagraph (I), including dis11 tribution to States and Indian Tribes; 

12 (N) consider the advisability and feasibility 

13 of mechanisms for extending the credit of the 

14 United States or providing other financial sup15 port authorized by law to key participants in 

16 the economy of the United States if the exten17 sion or provision of other financial support— 

18 (i) is necessary to avoid severe eco19 nomic degradation; or 

20 (ii) allows for the recovery from a sig21 nificant event; 

22 (O) include guidance for determining cat23 egories of employees that should be prioritized 

24 to continue to work in order to sustain the 

25 functions described in subparagraphs (B), (D), 


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1 and (E) in the event that there are limitations 

2 on the ability of individuals to travel to work3 places or to work remotely, including consider4 ations for defense readiness; 

5 (P) identify critical economic sectors nec6 essary to provide material and operational sup7 port to the defense of the United States; 

8 (Q) determine whether the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security, the National Guard, and 

10 the Secretary of Defense have adequate author11 ity to assist the United States in a recovery 

12 from a severe economic degradation caused by 

13 a significant event; 

14 (R) review and assess the authority and 

15 capability of heads of other agencies that the 

16 President determines necessary to assist the 

17 United States in a recovery from a severe eco18 nomic degradation caused by a significant 

19 event; and 

20 (S) consider any other matter that would 

21 aid in protecting and increasing the resilience of 

22 the economy of the United States from a sig23 nificant event. 

24 (c) COORDINATION.—In developing the plan required 

25 under subsection (b)(1), the President shall— 


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1 (1) receive advice from— 

2 (A) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

3 (B) the Secretary of Defense; and 

4 (C) the head of any other agency that the 

5 President determines necessary to complete the 

6 plan; 

7 (2) consult with economic sectors relating to 

8 critical infrastructure through sector-coordinated 

9 councils, as appropriate; 

10 (3) consult with relevant State, Tribal, and 

11 local governments and organizations that represent 

12 those governments; and 

13 (4) consult with any other non-Federal entity 

14 that the President determines necessary to complete 

15 the plan. 

16 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre19 quently than every 3 years thereafter, the President 

20 shall submit the plan required under subsection 

21 (b)(1) and the information described in paragraph 

22 (2) to— 

23 (A) the majority and minority leaders of 

24 the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Speaker and the minority leader of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (C) the Committee on Armed Services of 

4 the Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on Armed Services of 

6 the House of Representatives; 

7 (E) the Committee on Homeland Security 

8 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

9 (F) Committee on Homeland Security of 

10 the House of Representatives; and 

11 (G) any other committee of the Senate or 

12 the House of Representatives that has jurisdic13 tion over the subject of the plan. 

14 (2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—The informa15 tion described in this paragraph is— 

16 (A) any change to Federal law that would 

17 be necessary to carry out the plan required 

18 under subsection (b)(1); and 

19 (B) any proposed changes to the funding 

20 levels provided in appropriation Acts for the 

21 most recent fiscal year that can be implemented 

22 in future appropriation Acts or additional re23 sources necessary to— 

24 (i) implement the plan required under 

25 subsection (b)(1); or 


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1 (ii) maintain any program offices and 

2 personnel necessary to— 

3 (I) maintain the plan required 

4 under subsection (a)(1) and the plans 

5 described in subsection (b)(3)(F); and 

6 (II) conduct exercises, assess7 ments, and updates to the plans de8 scribed in subclause (I) over time. 

9 (3) BUDGET OF THE PRESIDENT.—The Presi10 dent may include the information described in para11 graph (2)(B) in the budget required to be submitted 

12 by the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, 

13 United States Code. 

Æ 


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