I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8562 

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, to ensure that the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency 

is the head of the COVID–19 Joint Acquisition Task Force, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 9, 2020 

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 Transportation and Infrastructure, 

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 Director of the Defense Logistics Agency 

to establish a system for States and localities to access 

covered items during a covered emergency, to ensure 

that the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency is 

the head of the COVID–19 Joint Acquisition Task 

Force, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Supplies 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 U.S. replenishes current supplies and plans 

20 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 

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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 


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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) Additionally, the COVID–19 Joint Acqui11 sition Task Force (‘‘JATF’’), established by the Un12 dersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and 

13 Sustainment, plays a critical role in the national re14 sponse to the COVID–19 pandemic. 

15 (11) The JATF’s understanding of reliance on 

16 foreign suppliers, often many tiers down in the sup17 ply chain, and the impact of that reliance on pro18 ducing at scale has allowed the Secretary of Health 

19 and Human Services to better plan for replenish20 ment of the Strategic National Stockpile. 

21 (12) DLA should provide direct support for 

22 States during the COVID–19 pandemic and future 

23 emergencies. 

24 (13) DLA can identify private sector capacity 

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1 tion a COVID–19 vaccine in advance of approval by 

2 the Federal Drug Administration of such vaccine. 

3 (14) The Secretary of Defense should be pre4 pared to reconvene the JATF to support future 

5 emergencies such as COVID–19. 

6 SEC. 3. 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 an 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 


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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) COVERED EMERGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

6 emergency’’ means— 

7 (A) a major disaster declared by the Presi8 dent under section 401 of the Robert T. Staf9 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

10 Act; or 

11 (B) an emergency or disaster declared by 

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

13 local government. 

14 (2) COVERED ITEM.—The term ‘‘covered item’’ 

15 means a good or service determined by the Director 

16 of the Defense Logistics Agency to be essential to 

17 respond to a covered emergency. 

18 (3) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means a county, munici20 pality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or 

21 other unit of general government. 

22 SEC. 4. COVID–19 JOINT ACQUISITION TASK FORCE. 

23 The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 

24 Sustainment shall designate the Director of the Defense 


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1 Logistics Agency as the head of the COVID–19 Joint Ac2 quisition Task Force (established on March 25, 2020). 

3 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

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

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

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

7 shall submit to Congress a report describing the needs of 

8 the domestic manufacturing base for the mass production 

9 of a COVID–19 vaccine, including the raw materials need10 ed and an identification of specific entities that could sup11 port such mass production. 

12 (b) QUARTERLY REPORTS.— 

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

14 of the Defense Logistics Agency shall submit to 

15 Congress— 

16 (A) an assessment of the identified needs, 

17 personnel requirements, funding requirements, 

18 and timelines and milestones of operations for 

19 the response and recovery efforts of Defense 

20 Logistics Agency and the COVID–19 Joint Ac21 quisition Task Force during the COVID–19 

22 pandemic; and 

23 (B) a description of any challenges faced 

24 in carrying out such efforts and recommenda25 tions to resolve such challenges. 


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1 (2) TERMINATION.—The requirement under 

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

3 quarter that begins after the national emergency de4 clared under the National Emergencies Act (50 

5 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), relating to the COVID–19 out6 break, terminates. 

Æ 


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