II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4158 

To examine the extent of the reliance of the United States on foreign producers for personal protective equipment during the COVID–19 pandemic 

and produce recommendations to secure the supply chain of personal 

protective equipment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

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

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To examine the extent of the reliance of the United States 

on foreign producers for personal protective equipment 

during the COVID–19 pandemic and produce recommendations to secure the supply chain of personal 

protective equipment. 

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 ‘‘PPE Supply Chain 

5 Transparency Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT. 

2 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the terms ‘‘per3 sonal protective equipment’’ and ‘‘PPE’’ means protective 

4 clothing, helmets, gloves, face shields, goggles, facemasks, 

5 and other equipment designed to protect the wearer from 

6 injury or the spread of infection or illness, as determined 

7 by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 

10 Emergency Management Agency shall, in consultation 

11 with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, submit 

12 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern13 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Home14 land Security of the House of Representatives, and make 

15 publicly available, a report examining the security and re16 silience of the supply chain for personal protective equip17 ment during the COVID–19 pandemic. 

18 (c) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub19 section (a) shall— 

20 (1) detail the volume and percentage of each 

21 type of PPE distributed by, or at the direction of, 

22 the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 

23 COVID–19 response efforts purchased or otherwise 

24 acquired or controlled in the delivery from a pro25 ducer located outside the United States; 


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1 (2) detail the volume and percentage of each 

2 type of PPE distributed by, or at the direction of, 

3 the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 

4 COVID–19 response efforts purchased or otherwise 

5 acquired or controlled in the delivery from a pro6 ducer located in the United States; 

7 (3) detail the volume and percentage of PPE 

8 imports acquired or controlled by the Federal Emer9 gency Management Agency from a producer located 

10 in the People’s Republic of China, which may in11 clude any relevant information collected on defective 

12 PPE acquired from Chinese producers; 

13 (4) detail any challenges and obstacles related 

14 to procuring PPE from a producer not located in the 

15 United States during the COVID–19 pandemic, in16 cluding export controls by foreign nations; 

17 (5) forecast domestic demand for PPE on a 

18 monthly basis over the 1-year period beginning on 

19 the date of enactment of this Act; 

20 (6) analyze whether domestic production of 

21 each type of PPE is sufficient to meet demand fore22 casted under paragraph (5); and 

23 (7) include legislative recommendations to se24 cure the supply chain of PPE, including rec25 ommendations to— 


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1 (A) improve resiliency in the supply chain 

2 of PPE; 

3 (B) increase domestic production of PPE; 

4 and 

5 (C) reduce the reliance of the United 

6 States on foreign producers of PPE. 

Æ 


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