I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2032 

To direct the President to use authority under the Defense Production Act 

of 1950 to ensure an adequate supply equipment necessary for limiting 

the spread of COVID–19, to require the Director of the Defense Logistics 

Agency to establish a system for States and localities to access covered 

items during a covered emergency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the President to use authority under the Defense 

Production Act of 1950 to ensure an adequate supply 

equipment necessary for limiting the spread of COVID– 

19, to require the Director of the Defense Logistics 

Agency to establish a system for States and localities 

to access covered items during a covered emergency, 

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, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2032 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pandemic Supplies 

3 Production Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The global shortage of medical and sanita7 tion supplies due to the COVID–19 pandemic has 

8 paralyzed health care systems and strained emer9 gency response capabilities of governments around 

10 the world. 

11 (2) The pandemic demonstrated the inter12 dependent nature and the limitations of global sup13 ply chains as both our Nation and the world com14 petes for a finite number of suppliers for critical 

15 medical and sanitation resources. 

16 (3) Providing a comprehensive understanding of 

17 how to procure, manage, deliver, and sustain at scale 

18 was necessary during this crisis, and will be critical 

19 as the United States replenishes current supplies 

20 and plans for future crises. 

21 (4) The Federal Emergency Management Agen22 cy and the Department of Health and Human Serv23 ices were challenged to rapidly identify, procure and 

24 deploy large quantities of goods and services while 

25 simultaneously responding and planning for the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2032.IH H2032

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2032 IH

1 covery of the United States from this global pan2 demic. 

3 (5) The traditional interagency emergency re4 sponse structure, built to respond to natural disas5 ters typically defined by geographic locales, does not 

6 have the capacity to scale quickly to address a crisis 

7 of this magnitude. 

8 (6) The Department of Defense leveraged ac9 quisition and supply chain expertise are uniquely 

10 suited to rapidly scale and establish acquisition 

11 strategies, for both procurement of supplies, expan12 sion of industrial capabilities and distribution of 

13 such supplies as the COVID–19 response require14 ments evolved. 

15 (7) As the combat logistics support agency for 

16 the Nation, the Defense Logistics Agency (‘‘DLA’’) 

17 manages the global supply chain—from raw mate18 rials to end user to disposition—for the Army, Ma19 rine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast 

20 Guard, 11 combatant commands, other Federal 

21 agencies, and partner and allied nations. 

22 (8) DLA has supported the COVID–19 re23 sponse of the Department of Defense by increasing 

24 the production and acquisition of critical items 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2032 IH

1 through existing large-scale contracts across multiple 

2 supply chains. 

3 (9) As a logistics integrator and acquisition and 

4 service provider, DLA has the unique capability to 

5 manage the supply chain that few other organiza6 tions, public or private, can match to assist States, 

7 local governments, hospitals, and health care pro8 viders around the country with supplies so they are 

9 not needlessly competing against one another. 

10 (10) The understanding of the reliance of the 

11 United States on foreign suppliers, often many tiers 

12 down in the supply chain, and the impact of that re13 liance on producing at scale, has allowed the Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services to better plan 

15 for replenishment of the Strategic National Stock16 pile. 

17 (11) DLA should provide direct support for 

18 States during the COVID–19 pandemic and future 

19 emergencies. 

20 (12) DLA can identify private sector capacity 

21 and assess additional needs for vaccines, thera22 peutics, tests, personal protective equipment, and 

23 supplies during the COVID–19 pandemic and during 

24 future emergencies. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2032 IH

1 (13) Testing capacity and testing materials 

2 have not met existing needs, as well as therapeutics. 

3 SEC. 3. USE OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT AUTHORITY 

4 FOR EQUIPMENT NECESSARY FOR LIMITING 

5 SPREAD OF COVID–19. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Immediately upon the enactment 

7 of this Act, the President shall— 

8 (1) determine under section 101(b) of the De9 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511(b)) 

10 that— 

11 (A) medical equipment and supplies, test12 ing materials, ventilators, and personal protec13 tive equipment are scarce and critical material 

14 essential to the national defense; and 

15 (B) the requirements of the national de16 fense for such equipment cannot be met without 

17 exercising the authorities provided by the De18 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 

19 et seq.); 

20 (2) identify private sector capacity to produce 

21 such equipment; and 

22 (3) exercise the authorities provided by the De23 fense Production Act of 1950 to the extent nec24 essary— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2032 IH

1 (A) to mitigate, where possible, the de2 pendency of the United States on overseas 

3 sources of supply of each such materials during 

4 the global shortage; and 

5 (B) to ensure the immediate adequacy of 

6 productive capacity and supply of ventilators, 

7 N–95 masks and other essential personal pro8 tective equipment, therapeutics, and tests and 

9 testing supplies needed to address the COVID– 

10 19 crisis based on an assessment of needs. 

11 (b) REPORTS.—Beginning on the date of the declara12 tion of a national pandemic or the declaration of a public 

13 health emergency and ending on the date that is 7 days 

14 after the termination of such pandemic or emergency, the 

15 head of the agency coordinating the National response to 

16 the pandemic or emergency, shall submit to Congress 

17 weekly reports on— 

18 (1) the status of the production of equipment, 

19 ventilators, medical protective gear, therapeutics, 

20 and tests and testing supplies; 

21 (2) available resources; and 

22 (3) the plan for the distribution of equipment, 

23 ventilators, medical protective gear, therapeutics, 

24 and tests and testing supplies. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2032 IH

1 (c) TERMINATION.—This section, and authorities 

2 carried out pursuant to this section, shall terminate on 

3 the date on which the national emergency declared under 

4 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 

5 relating to the COVID–19 outbreak, terminates. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SYSTEM TO ACCESS 

7 COVERED ITEMS DURING A COVERED EMER8 GENCY. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

11 Defense Logistics Agency shall— 

12 (1) establish and maintain a online system, or 

13 expand access to an existing system, through which 

14 States and local governments affected by a covered 

15 emergency may submit requests for covered items; 

16 and 

17 (2) establish procedures for fulfilling such re18 quests. 

19 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, 

20 acting through the Director of the Federal Emergency 

21 Management Agency, shall transfer such amounts as de22 termined by the Secretary of Defense, acting through the 

23 Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, to be derived 

24 from the unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or 

25 otherwise made available to the Disaster Relief Fund, to 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2032 IH

1 reimburse costs that the Secretary of Defense certifies to 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security were incurred to carry 

3 out this section. 

4 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) The term ‘‘covered emergency’’ means— 

6 (A) a major disaster declared by the Presi7 dent under section 401 of the Robert T. Staf8 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

9 Act; or 

10 (B) an emergency or disaster declared by 

11 a Governor of a State or the head of a unit of 

12 local government. 

13 (2) The term ‘‘covered item’’ means a good or 

14 service determined by the Director of the Defense 

15 Logistics Agency to be essential to respond to a cov16 ered emergency. 

17 (3) The term ‘‘unit of local government’’ means 

18 a county, municipality, town, township, village, par19 ish, borough, Tribe, or other unit of general govern20 ment. 

21 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

22 (a) MASS PRODUCTION OF COVID–19 VACCINE.— 

23 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency 

25 shall submit to Congress a report describing the needs of 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2032 IH

1 the domestic manufacturing base for the mass production 

2 of a COVID–19 vaccine, including the raw materials need3 ed and an identification of specific entities that could sup4 port such mass production. 

5 (b) QUARTERLY REPORTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each quarter, the Director 

7 of the Defense Logistics Agency shall submit to 

8 Congress— 

9 (A) an assessment of the identified needs, 

10 personnel requirements, funding requirements, 

11 and timelines and milestones of operations for 

12 the response and recovery efforts of Defense 

13 Logistics Agency and the COVID–19 Joint Ac14 quisition Task Force during the COVID–19 

15 pandemic; and 

16 (B) a description of any challenges faced 

17 in carrying out such efforts and recommenda18 tions to resolve such challenges. 

19 (2) TERMINATION.—The requirement under 

20 paragraph (1) shall terminate at the end of the first 

21 quarter that begins after the national emergency de22 clared under the National Emergencies Act (50 

23 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), relating to the COVID–19 out24 break, terminates. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS