I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1466 

To require the purchase by the Federal Government of certain medical supplies and protection equipment from the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Mr. MCHENRY (for himself and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 

to the Committees on Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce, Veterans’ Affairs, Education and Labor, Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and Oversight and Reform, 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 require the purchase by the Federal Government of certain medical supplies and protection equipment from the 

United States, 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 ‘‘American PPE Supply 

5 Chain Integrity Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE CERTAIN MEDICAL 

2 SUPPLIES AND PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 

3 EQUIPMENT FROM THE UNITED STATES. 

4 (a) COVERED SECRETARIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

6 any covered item purchased by a covered Secretary 

7 shall be from the United States. For purposes of 

8 this subsection, ‘‘from the United States’’ means 

9 that 100 percent of a product is grown, reprocessed, 

10 reused, or produced in the United States. 

11 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

12 (1), the applicable covered Secretary may waive the 

13 requirements of such paragraph if such covered Sec14 retary determines that satisfactory quality and suffi15 cient quantity of any such covered item from the 

16 United States cannot be procured as and when need17 ed at United States market prices. This subsection 

18 shall not apply to covered items that are or that in19 clude materials determined to be non-available in ac20 cordance with section 25.104 of title 48 of the Fed21 eral Acquisition Regulation. 

22 (b) EXCEPTION FOR SMALL PURCHASES.—Sub23 section (a) shall not apply to purchases for amounts not 

24 greater than $150,000. A proposed purchase or contract 

25 for an amount greater than $150,000 may not be divided 


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1 into several purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in 

2 order to qualify for this exception. 

3 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec4 tion shall apply with respect to a purchase of a covered 

5 item made pursuant to subsection (a) on or after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) COVERED ITEM.—The term ‘‘covered item’’ 

9 means an article or item of— 

10 (A) personal protective equipment (includ11 ing surgical masks, respirator masks and pow12 ered air purifying respirators and required fil13 ters, face shields and protective eyewear, sur14 gical and isolation gowns, and head and foot 

15 coverings) or clothing, and the materials and 

16 components thereof, other than sensors, elec17 tronics, or other items added to and not nor18 mally associated with such personal protective 

19 equipment or clothing; 

20 (B) sanitizing and disinfecting wipes, pri21 vacy curtains, beds and bedding, testing swabs, 

22 gauze and bandages, tents, tarpaulins, covers, 

23 or bags; or 

24 (C) cotton and other natural fiber prod25 ucts, woven silk or woven silk blends, spun silk 


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1 yarn for cartridge cloth, synthetic fabric or 

2 coated synthetic fabric (including all textile fi3 bers and yarns that are for use in such fabrics), 

4 canvas products, or wool (whether in the form 

5 of fiber or yarn or contained in fabrics, mate6 rials, or manufactured articles). 

7 (2) COVERED SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services, the Secretary of the Department of 

10 Homeland Security, and the Secretary of the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

12 SEC. 3. PROCUREMENT OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP13 MENT. 

14 (a) LIMITATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the President or the 

16 President’s designee(s) shall promulgate regulations— 

17 (1) to prohibit the use by any department or 

18 agency of the Federal Government of reverse auc19 tions or lowest price technically acceptable con20 tracting methods for the procurement of personal 

21 protective equipment if the level of quality or failure 

22 of the item could result in exposure to infection, ill23 ness, or death; and 


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1 (2) to establish a preference for the use of best 

2 value contracting methods for the procurement of 

3 such equipment. 

4 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO SMALL PURCHASE THRESHOLD 

5 EXCEPTION TO SOURCING REQUIREMENTS 

6 FOR CERTAIN ARTICLES. 

7 Subsection (f) of section 604 the American Recovery 

8 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (6 U.S.C. 453b) is amend9 ed to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR SMALL PURCHASES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) Subsection (a) does not apply to purchases 

12 for amounts not greater than $150,000. A proposed 

13 purchase or contract for an amount greater than 

14 $150,000 may not be divided into several purchases 

15 or contracts for lesser amounts in order to qualify 

16 for this exception. 

17 ‘‘(2) On October 1 of each year evenly divisible 

18 by 5, the Secretary of Homeland Security may ad19 just the dollar threshold in this subsection based on 

20 changes in the Consumer Price Index. The Secretary 

21 shall publish notice of any such adjustment in the 

22 Federal Register, and the new price threshold shall 

23 take effect on the date of publication.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF THE BERRY AMENDMENT TO CER2 TAIN DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY PUR3 CHASES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2533a of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(l) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN DEFENSE LOGISTICS

8 AGENCY PURCHASES.—Subsection (a) applies to pur9 chases made by the Director of the Defense Logistics 

10 Agency on behalf of the General Services Administration 

11 or any other Federal agency.’’. 

12 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec13 tion and the amendments made by this section shall apply 

14 with respect to a purchase made under section 2533a of 

15 title 10, United States Code, on or after the date of the 

16 enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. APPLICATION OF THE BERRY AMENDMENT TO CER18 TAIN MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND PERSONAL 

19 PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2533a(b) of title 10, 

21 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following new paragraphs: 

23 ‘‘(5) Surgical dressing materials. 

24 ‘‘(6) Hospital and surgical clothing and related 

25 special purpose items. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Replenishable field medical sets, kits, and 

2 outfits. 

3 ‘‘(8) All textile medical supplies and equip4 ment.’’. 

5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements of this sec6 tion and the amendments made by this section shall apply 

7 with respect to a purchase made under section 2533a of 

8 title 10, United States Code, on or after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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