I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 316 

To direct the President to appoint a Medical Supplies Response Coordinator 

to coordinate the efforts of the Federal Government regarding the supply 

and distribution of certain supplies and equipment relating to COVID– 

19. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2021 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 direct the President to appoint a Medical Supplies Response Coordinator to coordinate the efforts of the Federal Government regarding the supply and distribution 

of certain supplies and equipment relating to COVID– 

19. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. MEDICAL SUPPLIES RESPONSE COORDINATOR. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall appoint a 

5 Medical Supplies Response Coordinator to coordinate the 


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1 efforts of the Federal Government regarding the supply 

2 and distribution of critical medical supplies and equipment 

3 related to detecting, diagnosing, preventing, and treating 

4 COVID–19, including personal protective equipment, med5 ical devices, drugs, and vaccines. 

6 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—To qualify to be appointed as 

7 the Medical Supplies Response Coordinator, an individual 

8 shall be a senior government official with— 

9 (1) health care training, including training re10 lated to infectious diseases or hazardous exposures; 

11 and 

12 (2) a familiarity with medical supply chain lo13 gistics. 

14 (c) ACTIVITIES.—The Medical Supplies Response Co15 ordinator shall— 

16 (1) consult with State, local, territorial, and 

17 Tribal officials to ensure that health care facilities 

18 and health care workers have sufficient personal pro19 tective equipment and other medical supplies; 

20 (2) evaluate ongoing needs of States, localities, 

21 territories, Tribes, health care facilities, and health 

22 care workers to determine the need for critical med23 ical supplies and equipment; 

24 (3) serve as a point of contact for industry for 

25 procurement and distribution of critical medical supVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H316.IH H316

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1 plies and equipment, including personal protective 

2 equipment, medical devices, testing supplies, drugs, 

3 and vaccines; 

4 (4) procure and distribute critical medical sup5 plies and equipment, including personal protective 

6 equipment, medical devices, testing supplies, drugs, 

7 and vaccines; 

8 (5)(A) establish and maintain an up-to-date na9 tional database of hospital capacity, including beds, 

10 ventilators, and supplies, including personal protec11 tive equipment, medical devices, drugs, and vaccines; 

12 and 

13 (B) provide weekly reports to the Congress on 

14 gaps in such capacity and progress made toward 

15 closing the gaps; 

16 (6) require, as necessary, industry reporting on 

17 production and distribution of personal protective 

18 equipment, medical devices, testing supplies, drugs, 

19 and vaccines and assess financial penalties as may 

20 be specified by the Medical Supplies Response Coor21 dinator for failure to comply with such requirements 

22 for reporting on production and distribution; 

23 (7) consult with the Secretary and the Adminis24 trator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen25 cy, as applicable, to ensure sufficient production levVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H316.IH H316

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1 els under the Defense Production Act (50 U.S.C. 

2 4501 et seq.); and 

3 (8) monitor the prices of critical medical sup4 plies and equipment, including personal protective 

5 equipment and medical devices, drugs, and vaccines 

6 related to detecting, diagnosing, preventing, and 

7 treating COVID–19 and report any suspected price 

8 gouging of such materials to the Federal Trade 

9 Commission and appropriate law enforcement offi10 cials. 

Æ 


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