III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 547 

Encouraging the President to use authorities provided by the Defense Production Act of 1950 to scale up the national response to the coronavirus 

crisis. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2020 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. JONES, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BENNET, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 

CARPER, and Ms. SMITH) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Encouraging the President to use authorities provided by 

the Defense Production Act of 1950 to scale up the 

national response to the coronavirus crisis. 

Whereas more than 3,800 people in the United States have 

already tested positive for the novel coronavirus across 49 

States, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories, with 

experts believing the number is already much higher; 

Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

have projected that between 160,000,000 and 

214,000,000 people could be infected by the novel 

coronavirus in the United States over the course of the 

pandemic; 


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•SRES 547 IS 

Whereas the United States health care sector is facing severe 

shortages of critical supplies for coronavirus testing and 

treatment, including personal protective equipment for 

staff and infected patients, N95 respirators, sanitizing 

materials, ventilators, and test kit supplies; 

Whereas the Strategic National Stockpile contains only a 

fraction of the supplies that the Department of Health 

and Human Services estimates will be necessary to respond to the coronavirus crisis, with the stockpile currently holding less than 0.3 percent of the amount of respirators estimated to be necessary; 

Whereas the President has the existing authority under the 

Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) 

to take immediate action to mobilize United States industry for emergency preparedness activities conducted pursuant to title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5195 et 

seq.), which has been previously used to respond to public 

health hazards; and 

Whereas the President issued a national emergency declaration relating to the novel coronavirus under section 

501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) on March 

13, 2020: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the President to use existing au3 thorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 

4 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) to massively and quickly 

5 ramp up production in the United States of medical 

6 supplies, including personal protective equipment, 


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•SRES 547 IS 

1 needed to respond to the ongoing public health 

2 emergency driven by the spread of the novel 

3 coronavirus; 

4 (2) urges the President to prioritize the use of 

5 those authorities to produce and secure additional 

6 personal protective equipment, test kit supplies, res7 pirators, ventilators, and sanitizing materials for use 

8 within the health care sector in the United States; 

9 (3) supports the use of authorities under title 

10 I of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 

11 4511 et seq.) to allocate and control the distribution 

12 of medical materials needed for testing and treating 

13 the novel coronavirus, including by directing sup14 pliers to prioritize and accept government contracts 

15 to restock the Strategic National Stockpile where 

16 necessary; 

17 (4) supports the use of authorities under title 

18 III of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 

19 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.) to provide financial incentives 

20 to manufacturers and suppliers of critical medical 

21 equipment, including loans, loan guarantees, direct 

22 purchases, and purchase commitments; and 

23 (5) supports the use of authorities under title 

24 VII of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 

25 U.S.C. 4551 et seq.) to establish voluntary agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR547.IS SR547

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•SRES 547 IS 

1 ments between the Federal Government and private 

2 industry that would allow for the temporary coordi3 nation of production of necessary and scarce medical 

4 supplies. 

Æ 


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