I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8508 

To require the President to use authorities under the Defense Production 

Act of 1950 to require emergency production of the supplies necessary 

for distributing and administering the COVID–19 vaccine, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2020 

Mr. CRIST (for himself, Mr. POCAN, and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the President to use authorities under the Defense 

Production Act of 1950 to require emergency production 

of the supplies necessary for distributing and administering the COVID–19 vaccine, 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 ‘‘COVID–19 Vaccine 

5 Distribution and Production Act’’. 


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•HR 8508 IH

1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY PRODUCTION OF THE SUPPLIES NEC2 ESSARY FOR EQUITABLY DISTRIBUTING AND 

3 ADMINISTERING THE COVID–19 VACCINE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 day after the 

5 date of the enactment of this section, the President shall— 

6 (1) determine under section 101(b) of the De7 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511(b)) 

8 that— 

9 (A) supplies necessary for equitably dis10 tributing and administering the COVID–19 vac11 cine are a scarce and critical material essential 

12 to the national defense; and 

13 (B) the requirements of the national de14 fense for the supplies necessary for equitably 

15 distributing and administering the COVID–19 

16 vaccine cannot be met without exercising the 

17 authorities provided by the Defense Production 

18 Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.); 

19 (2) identify private sector capacity to produce 

20 the supplies necessary for equitably distributing and 

21 administering the COVID–19 vaccine; and 

22 (3) exercise the authorities provided by the De23 fense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4501 et 

24 seq.) to the extent necessary— 


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•HR 8508 IH

1 (A) to require emergency production of the 

2 supplies necessary for equitably distributing 

3 and administering the COVID–19 vaccine; and 

4 (B) to establish a fair and reasonable price 

5 for the sale of the supplies produced pursuant 

6 to subparagraph (A). 

7 (b) COORDINATION.—The President shall coordinate 

8 and direct the equitable distribution of the supplies pro9 duced under subsection (a)(3)(A) based on— 

10 (1) requests submitted to the President by the 

11 Governors of the States; and 

12 (2) the needs of the States, as determined 

13 based on the populations of each State. 

14 (c) FUNDING.—Amounts available in the Defense 

15 Production Act Fund under section 304 of the Defense 

16 Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534) shall be avail17 able to carry out this section. 

18 (d) TERMINATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall terminate 

20 on the date on which there are no remaining re21 quests under subsection (b)(1). 

22 (2) DISPOSITION OF UNUSED SUPPLIES NEC23 ESSARY FOR EQUITABLY DISTRIBUTING OR ADMIN24 ISTERING THE COVID–19 VACCINE.—Any supplies 

25 produced pursuant to subsection (a)(3)(A) using 


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•HR 8508 IH

1 amounts from the Defense Production Act Fund and 

2 unused as of the date described in paragraph (1) 

3 shall be deposited in the Strategic National Stock4 pile under section 319F–2 of the Public Health 

5 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6b), including any 

6 such supplies authorized for emergency use under 

7 section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos8 metic Act (21 U.S.C. 360bbb–3). 

9 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) COVID–19 VACCINE.—The term ‘‘COVID– 

11 19 vaccine’’ means a vaccine to prevent or mitigate 

12 COVID–19 that the Food and Drug Administration 

13 licenses or authorizes for emergency use. 

14 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 

15 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

16 Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 

17 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is18 lands. 

Æ 


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