I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8604 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to maintain an 

internet clearinghouse of information on suppliers of personal protective 

equipment needed to prevent the spread of COVID–19 or any other 

pathogen triggering a public health emergency declaration, including information on the quality and availability of such equipment, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2020 

Mr. KIM (for himself and Mr. SCHNEIDER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

maintain an internet clearinghouse of information on 

suppliers of personal protective equipment needed to prevent the spread of COVID–19 or any other pathogen 

triggering a public health emergency declaration, including information on the quality and availability of such 

equipment, 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 ‘‘Protecting Essential 

3 Workers Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COVID–19 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 

5 EQUIPMENT CLEARINGHOUSE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 2 

7 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of Health and Human Services shall establish and 

9 maintain an internet clearinghouse of information on sup10 pliers of personal protective equipment needed to prevent 

11 the spread of COVID–19 or any other pathogen triggering 

12 a public health emergency declaration. 

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Subject to subsection (c), the 

14 internet clearinghouse established under subsection (a) 

15 shall— 

16 (1) identify available personal protective equip17 ment by— 

18 (A) conducting outbound sourcing to iden19 tify manufacturers and distributers of personal 

20 protective equipment; 

21 (B) soliciting information from manufac22 turers and distributers of available personal 

23 protective equipment; 

24 (C) verifying manufacturer and distributer 

25 regulatory status; 


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1 (D) verifying supporting documentation of 

2 supplier registration, factory, and product cer3 tifications; 

4 (E) collecting information on product pric5 ing, minimum order quantities, lead time, sup6 ply resilience, and availability; and 

7 (F) verifying product prices to ensure that 

8 no price violates antiprice gouging laws; 

9 (2) provide transparent information about per10 sonal protective equipment availability, dissemina11 tion, and procurement opportunities by making 

12 available information collected pursuant to para13 graph (1); and 

14 (3) be established in a manner that allows the 

15 information collected to be available to the public 

16 and government, including— 

17 (A) health care providers; 

18 (B) workers deemed essential by public of19 ficials during the COVID–19 pandemic and any 

20 subsequent pandemics triggering public health 

21 emergency declarations; 

22 (C) any State, local, or Tribal government; 

23 and 

24 (D) local emergency operations centers and 

25 health departments. 


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1 (c) INCLUSION OF SUPPLIERS ONLY ON VOLUNTARY

2 BASIS.—The Secretary may include in the internet clear3 inghouse established under subsection (a) information 

4 with respect to a supplier (including any manufacturer or 

5 distributor) only if the supplier agrees to be referenced 

6 in the clearinghouse, in which case the supplier shall agree 

7 to provide to the Secretary the information listed in sub8 section (b)(1). 

9 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘personal protective equip11 ment’’— 

12 (A) means equipment designated to protect 

13 individuals from the spread of infection or ill14 ness, as determined by the Secretary; and 

15 (B) includes any such disinfecting wipes, 

16 helmets, gloves, face shields, hand sanitizer, 

17 goggles, facemasks, protective clothing, and res18 pirators. 

19 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 States, the 

20 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

21 Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the 

22 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

23 and American Samoa. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘Tribal’’, with respect to a de2 partment of health (or health department), in3 cludes— 

4 (A) Indian Tribes that— 

5 (i) are operating 1 or more health fa6 cilities pursuant to an agreement under the 

7 Indian Self-Determination and Education 

8 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.); 

9 or 

10 (ii) receive services from a facility op11 erated by the Indian Health Services; and 

12 (B) Tribal organizations (as the term 

13 ‘‘tribal organization’’ is defined in section 4 of 

14 the Indian Self-Determination and Education 

15 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) and Urban 

16 Indian organizations (as defined in section 4 of 

17 the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 

18 U.S.C. 1603)). 

19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

21 necessary to carry out this section, to be derived exclu22 sively from unobligated amounts in the Public Health and 

23 Social Emergency Fund. 

Æ 


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