II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 308 

To establish a pilot program to address shortages of testing equipment and 

personal protective equipment through enhanced domestic production, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program to address shortages of testing 

equipment and personal protective equipment through 

enhanced domestic production, 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 ‘‘Protecting Providers 

5 Everywhere in America Act’’ or the ‘‘PPE in America 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DOMESTIC PPE PROCUREMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319F–2(a) of the Public 

3 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6b(a)) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(6) DOMESTIC PROCUREMENT PILOT PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE DO9 MESTIC END PRODUCTS.—For the period 

10 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, subject 

11 to clause (ii), the Secretary shall ensure— 

12 ‘‘(I) that not less than 40 percent 

13 of amounts made available under this 

14 section for purposes of procuring cov15 ered testing equipment and personal 

16 protective equipment for the stockpile 

17 under paragraph (1) are allocated to 

18 procurement of such equipment that 

19 is a domestic end product (as defined 

20 in part 25.003 of the Federal Acquisi21 tion Regulations maintained under 

22 section 1303(a)(1) of title 41, United 

23 States Code (or any successor regula24 tions)) manufactured by an entity or 

25 entities that enter into a contract with 


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1 the Secretary to sell such equipment 

2 to the Secretary for such purpose; and 

3 ‘‘(II) that additional amounts 

4 made available under this section for 

5 the purposes described in subclause 

6 (I), up to 100 percent of such 

7 amounts, are allocated to procurement 

8 of domestic end products as described 

9 in subclause (I), provided that, with 

10 respect to any such procurement of 

11 domestic end products in excess of the 

12 amount required under subclause (I), 

13 domestic supply exists and the costs 

14 of procuring equipment that is a do15 mestic end product are not unreason16 ably high compared to other equip17 ment that is not a domestic end prod18 uct. 

19 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—In the event that 

20 there is insufficient domestic end product 

21 available for procurement to meet the 

22 needs for certain covered testing equip23 ment and personal protective equipment 

24 for the stockpile under paragraph (1) while 

25 satisfying the requirement of clause (i)(I), 


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1 or that the cost of procuring equipment 

2 that is a domestic end product in quan3 tities required under clause (i)(I) would be 

4 unreasonably high compared to other 

5 equipment that is not a domestic end prod6 uct, clause (i)(I) shall apply with respect to 

7 the applicable equipment only to the extent 

8 that such equipment that is a domestic end 

9 product is available and to the extent that 

10 the cost is not unreasonable, as applicable. 

11 ‘‘(B) SALE OR TRANSFER OF PPE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to 

13 any covered testing equipment and per14 sonal protective equipment in the stockpile 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary— 

16 ‘‘(I) shall assess the stock of 

17 such equipment on a regular basis, 

18 and not less frequently than— 

19 ‘‘(aa) twice per year, other 

20 than during periods described in 

21 item (bb); or 

22 ‘‘(bb) monthly, during any 

23 period in which the Secretary de24 termines it likely that such equip25 ment will be deployed, such as 


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1 during a public health emer2 gency; 

3 ‘‘(II) shall communicate to man4 ufacturers and suppliers of such 

5 equipment to the stockpile under 

6 paragraph (1) if an assessment under 

7 subclause (I) indicates that there will 

8 be an increased need for such equip9 ment; 

10 ‘‘(III) may, at appropriate inter11 vals and with respect to any such 

12 equipment in such stockpile— 

13 ‘‘(aa) transfer such equip14 ment to other agencies or oper15 ating divisions within the Depart16 ment of Health and Human 

17 Services, or to the Department of 

18 Defense, the Department of 

19 Homeland Security, the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs, or any 

21 other Federal agency or depart22 ment, in accordance with the 

23 needs of such agencies, divisions, 

24 or departments; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) sell such equipment to 

2 health care facilities at a com3 petitive price, as determined by 

4 the Secretary, taking into ac5 count the current market pricing 

6 for the applicable equipment and 

7 the operational budget for the 

8 stockpile; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) may enter into a contract 

10 or cooperative agreement with an enti11 ty that has expertise in supply chain 

12 logistics and management to carry out 

13 the activities described in this sub14 paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(ii) GROUP PURCHASING ORGANIZA16 TIONS AND MEDICAL PRODUCT DISTRIBU17 TORS.—In making sales under clause 

18 (i)(II)(bb), the Secretary may transact 

19 with group purchasing organizations and 

20 medical product distributors to facilitate 

21 timeliness, logistical assistance, and appro22 priate pricing, and to determine appro23 priate amounts of covered testing equip24 ment and personal protective equipment 

25 for applicable health care facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) COMPENSATION TO HHS.— 

2 ‘‘(I) TRANSFERS FROM OTHER

3 AGENCIES.—A Federal agency receiv4 ing equipment as described in clause 

5 (i)(II)(aa) shall transfer to the Sec6 retary such amounts as the Secretary 

7 and head of the applicable agency de8 termine to be fair compensation for 

9 such equipment. 

10 ‘‘(II) SALES OF PPE.—There 

11 shall be transferred from the Treasury 

12 to the Secretary each fiscal year, for 

13 purposes of procuring covered testing 

14 equipment and personal protective 

15 equipment for the stockpile under 

16 paragraph (1), an amount equal to 

17 the sum of the amount received in the 

18 previous fiscal year from sales de19 scribed in clause (i)(II)(bb). 

20 ‘‘(C) VENDOR-MANAGED INVENTORY.—For 

21 purposes of meeting the goals under subpara22 graph (A), and to promote efficient and predict23 able operations of the stockpile while mitigating 

24 the risk of product expiration or shortages, the 

25 Secretary may enter into arrangements, 


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1 through a competitive bidding process, with one 

2 or more manufacturers of domestic end prod3 ucts to establish and utilize revolving stockpiles 

4 of covered testing equipment and personal pro5 tective equipment managed and operated by 

6 such manufacturer. Under such an arrange7 ment— 

8 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer (or a subcon9 tractor or agent of the manufacturer)— 

10 ‘‘(I) shall— 

11 ‘‘(aa) produce or procure 

12 covered testing equipment or per13 sonal protective equipment for 

14 the stockpile under paragraph 

15 (1); 

16 ‘‘(bb) maintain constant 

17 supply, possession, and re-stock18 ing capacity of such equipment in 

19 such quantities as the Secretary 

20 requires for purposes of the 

21 stockpile under paragraph (1); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(cc) fulfill or support the 

24 deployment, distribution, or dis25 pensing functions of the stockpile 


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1 at the State and local levels, con2 sistent with paragraph (3); and 

3 ‘‘(II) may sell or transfer such 

4 equipment for the purposes of the 

5 manufacturer’s existing inventory and 

6 commercial contracts; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) compensate the manufac9 turer for the covered testing equip10 ment or personal protective equip11 ment; and 

12 ‘‘(II) pay a management fee, as 

13 appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(D) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(I) conduct an evaluation of the 

18 program under this paragraph; 

19 ‘‘(II) not later than 2 years after 

20 the date of enactment of this para21 graph, submit an interim report to 

22 Congress on such program; and 

23 ‘‘(III) not later than 5 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this 

25 paragraph, complete such evaluation 


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1 and submit to Congress a final report 

2 on the program. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—The evalua4 tion and reports under clause (i) shall con5 sider how the program has impacted the 

6 continuity of stockpiling and readiness for 

7 the stockpile under paragraph (1), implica8 tions of the program on the domestic sup9 ply chain, cost effectiveness of the pro10 gram, and access to covered testing equip11 ment and personal protective equipment 

12 for the Federal agencies and health care 

13 facilities pursuant to subparagraph 

14 (B)(i)(II). 

15 ‘‘(E) COVERED TESTING EQUIPMENT AND

16 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.—For pur17 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘covered test18 ing equipment and personal protective equip19 ment’ means diagnostic supplies (which may in20 clude test kits, reagents, and swabs), res21 pirators, masks, gloves, eye and face protection, 

22 gowns, and any other appropriate ancillary 

23 medical equipment or supplies related to testing 

24 or personal protection that meet the Secretary’s 


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1 requirements for inclusion in the stockpile 

2 under paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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