Public Health Emergency Production Act of 2021
Bill: S.266 | Sponsor: Sen. Duckworth, Tammy (D-IL)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Public Health Emergency Production Act of 2021
This bill modifies funding, administration, and reporting related to the Defense Production Act of 1950. That act confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry to secure essential materials and goods needed for the national defense.
Specifically, the bill eliminates a requirement to transfer any balance in excess of $750 million from the Defense Production Act Fund to the General Fund of the Department of the Treasury.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must require companies to prioritize fulfilling federal contracts or orders necessary for pandemic preparedness and response if HHS finds that the material being procured is essential to the public health and cannot be adequately sourced through normal distribution channels.
HHS must also establish, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, an office responsible for Defense Production Act of 1950 activities. Additionally, staff may rotate between the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy and specified components of HHS.
Furthermore, the Defense Production Act Committee must report monthly about the use of Defense Production Act of 1950 authorities during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) emergency.

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use 
  authorities under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to prioritize 
contracts necessary to promote pandemic preparedness and response, and 
                          for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Health Emergency Production 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PRIORITIZATION OF CONTRACTS NECESSARY TO PROMOTE PANDEMIC 
              PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 
U.S.C. 4511 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 101 the 
following:

``SEC. 101A. PRIORITIZATION OF CONTRACTS NECESSARY TO PROMOTE PANDEMIC 
              PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall--
            ``(1) require that performance under contracts or orders 
        (other than contracts of employment) that the Secretary deems 
        necessary or appropriate to promote preparedness for and 
        response to a pandemic shall take priority over performance 
        under any other contract or order;
            ``(2) for the purpose of assuring such priority, require 
        acceptance and performance of such contracts or orders in 
        preference to other contracts or orders by persons the 
        Secretary finds to be capable of their performance; and
            ``(3) allocate materials, services, and facilities in such 
        manner, upon such conditions, and to such extent as the 
        Secretary shall deem necessary or appropriate to promote the 
        public health.
    ``(b) Use of Authority.--The powers granted by this section shall 
be used to control the general distribution of a material in the 
civilian market if the Secretary finds that--
            ``(1) such material is a scarce and critical material 
        essential to public health; and
            ``(2) the requirements of public health for such material 
        cannot otherwise be met without creating a significant 
        dislocation of the normal distribution of such material in the 
        civilian market to such a degree as to create appreciable 
        hardship.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--The Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 
U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 102 (50 U.S.C. 4512), in the last sentence, 
        by inserting ``, 101A,'' after ``sections 101''; and
            (2) in section 701(e) (50 U.S.C. 4551(e)), by inserting 
        ``or the Secretary of Health and Human Services makes a 
        determination to exercise any authority to allocate any 
        material pursuant to section 101A,'' after ``section 101,''.

SEC. 3. REPORTING OF ACTIONS TAKEN UNDER TITLE I OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION 
              ACT OF 1950 IN FEDERAL PROCUREMENT DATA SYSTEM.

    Title I of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4511 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 109. REPORTING OF ACTIONS IN FEDERAL PROCUREMENT DATA SYSTEM.

    ``Any action taken under section 101 or 101A shall be reported in 
the Federal Procurement Data System.''.

SEC. 4. USE OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT FUND FOR PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS 
              AND RESPONSE.

    Section 304 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4534) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) Use of Fund.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Fund shall be available to carry out 
        the provisions and purposes of this title, subject to the 
        limitations set forth in this Act and in appropriations Acts.
            ``(2) Distribution.--The Fund manager designated under 
        subsection (e) shall ensure that amounts in the Fund are fairly 
        distributed to the office established under section 305 and all 
        other Federal agencies with responsibility for carrying out the 
        provisions and purposes of this title.'';
            (2) by striking subsection (e);
            (3) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively;
            (4) in subsection (e), as redesignated by paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) coordinating with other Federal agencies to ensure 
        that amounts in the Fund are made available to agencies other 
        than the agency of the Fund manager, especially for public 
        health programs.''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Interagency Rotation Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services and the Secretary of Defense shall establish an 
        interagency rotation program that provides for personnel of the 
        components of the Department of Health and Human Services 
        specified in paragraph (2) to take rotational assignments 
        within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense 
        for Industrial Policy, and for personnel of that Office to take 
        rotational assignments within such components, for the purposes 
        of--
                    ``(A) strengthening working relationships between 
                agencies;
                    ``(B) promoting interagency experience; and
                    ``(C) ensuring the amounts in the Fund enable the 
                use of highly tailored economic incentives to boost the 
                manufacturing of critical public health resources that 
                are vital to effective pandemic preparedness and 
                response in the United States.
            ``(2) Components specified.--The components of the 
        Department of Health and Human Services specified in this 
        paragraph are the following:
                    ``(A) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for 
                Preparedness and Response.
                    ``(B) The Centers for Disease Control and 
                Prevention.
                    ``(C) The National Institutes of Health.''.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE IN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
              SERVICES TO ADMINISTER TITLE III OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION 
              ACT OF 1950.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Defense Production Act of 1950 
(50 U.S.C. 4531 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 305. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE IN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
              SERVICES.

    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response of the Department of 
Health and Human Services an office (in this section referred to as the 
`office') to be responsible for planning for the use of, reporting on, 
and implementation of authorities of the Department under this title 
and other provisions of this Act.
    ``(b) Pandemic Preparedness and Response.--In planning for the use 
of and implementing authorities under subsection (a), the office shall 
use highly targeted economic incentives authorized under this Act to 
boost the manufacturing of critical public health resources that are 
vital to effective pandemic preparedness and response.
    ``(c) Head of Office.--
            ``(1) Appointment.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services shall appoint an official of the Department, at the 
        level of Deputy Assistant Secretary or the equivalent, to be 
        the head of the office.
            ``(2) Defense production act committee representative.--The 
        head of the office appointed under paragraph (1) shall serve as 
        the representative of the Department of Health and Human 
        Services on the Defense Production Act Committee under section 
        722.
    ``(d) Waiver of Certain Requirements.--The requirements of sections 
301(d)(1)(A), 302(d)(1), and subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 
303(a)(6) are waived for purposes of the use of authorities under this 
Act by the office.
    ``(e) Report Required.--Not less frequently than annually, the head 
of the office shall submit to Congress, and make available on a 
publicly accessible internet website of the office, a report that 
includes--
            ``(1) a summary of the work and plans of the office to 
        expand productive capacity and supply responsibilities under 
        this Act during the year preceding submission of the report;
            ``(2) an assessment of the elements of the industrial base 
        and technology base in the United States;
            ``(3) recommendations for appropriate remedial actions 
        under this Act or regulations prescribed to carry out this Act 
        to supply the emerging technologies needed to achieve robust 
        pandemic preparedness and response;
            ``(4) recommendations for legislation, regulations, 
        executive orders, or other action by the Federal Government 
        necessary to improve the use of the authorities provided by 
        this Act;
            ``(5) a summary of the findings and recommendations for 
        improving information sharing between departments, agencies, 
        and independent establishments of the Federal Government 
        relating to all aspects of this Act; and
            ``(6) any additional findings or recommendations the office 
        considers appropriate.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the establishment of the 
office.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 722(b)(1)(A) of the Defense 
Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4567(b)(1)(A)) is amended by 
inserting ``except as specified in section 305(c)(2),'' before ``the 
head of''.

SEC. 6. REPORT ON USE OF DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950 AUTHORITIES TO 
              RESPOND TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

    (a) In General.--Not less frequently than once a month during the 
period described in subsection (b), the Defense Production Act 
Committee established under section 722 of the Defense Production Act 
of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4567) shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees and make available on a publicly accessible internet website 
a report--
            (1) describing activities carried out under titles I and 
        III of that Act related to efforts to respond to the 
        coronavirus disease 2019 (commonly referred to as ``COVID-19'') 
        pandemic; and
            (2) assessing the effectiveness of interagency coordination 
        and the use of resources to respond to the pandemic.
    (b) Period Described.--The period described in this subsection is 
the period--
            (1) beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) ending on the date on which the national emergency 
        declared under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 
        seq.) with respect to COVID-19 terminates.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
on Financial Services of the House of Representatives
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