I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1436 
To establish a pilot program to address shortages of testing equipment and 
personal protective equipment through enhanced domestic production, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2021 
Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To establish a pilot program to address shortages of testing 
equipment and personal protective equipment through 
enhanced domestic production, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Providers 
Everywhere in America Act’’ or the ‘‘PPE in America 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DOMESTIC PPE PROCUREMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319F–2(a) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6b(a)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) DOMESTIC
PROCUREMENT
PILOT
PRO-
GRAM.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT TO PURCHASE DO-
MESTIC END PRODUCTS.—For the period 
of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, subject 
to clause (ii), the Secretary shall ensure— 
‘‘(I) that not less than 40 percent 
of amounts made available under this 
section for purposes of procuring cov-
ered testing equipment and personal 
protective equipment for the stockpile 
under paragraph (1) are allocated to 
procurement of such equipment that 
is a domestic end product (as defined 
in part 25.003 of the Federal Acquisi-
tion Regulations maintained under 
section 1303(a)(1) of title 41, United 
States Code (or any successor regula-
tions)), manufactured by an entity or 
entities that enter into a contract with 
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the Secretary to sell such equipment 
to the Secretary for such purpose; and 
‘‘(II) that additional amounts 
made available under this section for 
the purposes described in subclause 
(I), up to 100 percent of such 
amounts, are allocated to procurement 
of domestic end products as described 
in subclause (I), provided that, with 
respect to any such procurement of 
domestic end products in excess of the 
amount required under subclause (I), 
domestic supply exists and the costs 
of procuring equipment that is a do-
mestic end product are not unreason-
ably high compared to other equip-
ment that is not a domestic end prod-
uct. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—In the event that 
there is insufficient domestic end product 
available for procurement to meet the 
needs for certain covered testing equip-
ment and personal protective equipment 
for the stockpile under paragraph (1) while 
satisfying the requirement of clause (i)(I), 
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or that the cost of procuring equipment 
that is a domestic end product in quan-
tities required under clause (i)(I) would be 
unreasonably high compared to other 
equipment that is not a domestic end prod-
uct, clause (i)(I) shall apply with respect to 
the applicable equipment only to the extent 
that such equipment that is a domestic end 
product is available and to the extent that 
the cost is not unreasonable, as applicable. 
‘‘(B) SALE OR TRANSFER OF PPE.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—With respect to 
any covered testing equipment and per-
sonal protective equipment in the stockpile 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary— 
‘‘(I) shall assess the stock of 
such equipment on a regular basis, 
and not less frequently than— 
‘‘(aa) twice per year, other 
than during periods described in 
item (bb); or 
‘‘(bb) monthly, during any 
period in which the Secretary de-
termines it likely that such equip-
ment will be deployed, such as 
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during a public health emer-
gency; 
‘‘(II) shall communicate to man-
ufacturers and suppliers of such 
equipment to the stockpile under 
paragraph (1) if an assessment under 
subclause (I) indicates that there will 
be an increased need for such equip-
ment; 
‘‘(III) may, at appropriate inter-
vals and with respect to any such 
equipment in such stockpile— 
‘‘(aa) transfer such equip-
ment to other agencies or oper-
ating divisions within the Depart-
ment of Health and Human 
Services, or to the Department of 
Defense, 
the 
Department 
of 
Homeland Security, the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, or any 
other Federal agency or depart-
ment, in accordance with the 
needs of such agencies, divisions, 
or departments; or 
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‘‘(bb) sell such equipment to 
health care facilities at a com-
petitive price, as determined by 
the Secretary, taking into ac-
count the current market pricing 
for the applicable equipment and 
the operational budget for the 
stockpile; and 
‘‘(IV) may enter into a contract 
or cooperative agreement with an enti-
ty that has expertise in supply chain 
logistics and management to carry out 
the activities described in this sub-
paragraph. 
‘‘(ii) GROUP PURCHASING ORGANIZA-
TIONS AND MEDICAL PRODUCT DISTRIBU-
TORS.—In making sales under clause 
(i)(II)(bb), the Secretary may transact 
with group purchasing organizations and 
medical product distributors to facilitate 
timeliness, logistical assistance, and appro-
priate pricing, and to determine appro-
priate amounts of covered testing equip-
ment and personal protective equipment 
for applicable health care facilities. 
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‘‘(iii) COMPENSATION TO HHS.— 
‘‘(I) TRANSFERS
FROM
OTHER 
AGENCIES.—A Federal agency receiv-
ing equipment as described in clause 
(i)(II)(aa) shall transfer to the Sec-
retary such amounts as the Secretary 
and head of the applicable agency de-
termine to be fair compensation for 
such equipment. 
‘‘(II) SALES
OF
PPE.—There 
shall be transferred from the Treasury 
to the Secretary each fiscal year, for 
purposes of procuring covered testing 
equipment and personal protective 
equipment for the stockpile under 
paragraph (1), an amount equal to 
the sum of the amount received in the 
previous fiscal year from sales de-
scribed in clause (i)(II)(bb). 
‘‘(C) VENDOR-MANAGED INVENTORY.—For 
purposes of meeting the goals under subpara-
graph (A), and to promote efficient and predict-
able operations of the stockpile while mitigating 
the risk of product expiration or shortages, the 
Secretary 
may 
enter 
into 
arrangements, 
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through a competitive bidding process, with one 
or more manufacturers of domestic end prod-
ucts to establish and utilize revolving stockpiles 
of covered testing equipment and personal pro-
tective equipment managed and operated by 
such manufacturer. Under such an arrange-
ment— 
‘‘(i) the manufacturer (or a subcon-
tractor or agent of the manufacturer)— 
‘‘(I) shall— 
‘‘(aa) produce or procure 
covered testing equipment or per-
sonal protective equipment for 
the stockpile under paragraph 
(1); 
‘‘(bb) 
maintain 
constant 
supply, possession, and re-stock-
ing capacity of such equipment in 
such quantities as the Secretary 
requires for purposes of the 
stockpile under paragraph (1); 
and 
‘‘(cc) fulfill or support the 
deployment, distribution, or dis-
pensing functions of the stockpile 
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at the State and local levels, con-
sistent with paragraph (3); and 
‘‘(II) may sell or transfer such 
equipment for the purposes of the 
manufacturer’s existing inventory and 
commercial contracts; and 
‘‘(ii) the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(I) compensate the manufac-
turer for the covered testing equip-
ment or personal protective equip-
ment; and 
‘‘(II) pay a management fee, as 
appropriate. 
‘‘(D) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(I) conduct an evaluation of the 
program under this paragraph; 
‘‘(II) not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this para-
graph, submit an interim report to 
Congress on such program; and 
‘‘(III) not later than 5 years 
after the date of enactment of this 
paragraph, complete such evaluation 
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