PPE Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2020
Summary
This is Senate Report 116-319 of the 116th Congress, 2d Session, Calendar No. 622, titled PPE Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2020, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, ordered to be printed December 14, 2020. Mr. Johnson reports on S. 4158, which the Committee reports favorably with amendments and an amendment to the title and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. The report states that the purpose of S. 4158 is to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to produce a report assessing the supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID–19 pandemic, to be made available within 90 days after enactment. The background section describes PPE shortages and the March 30, 2020 establishment of FEMA's Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
- Issuer
- Congressional materials
- Document type
- Crpt Crpt 116Srpt319 Crpt 116Srpt319
- Case
- Crpt Crpt 116Srpt319 Crpt 116Srpt319
Cite this document
“PPE Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2020.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crpt-crpt-116srpt319-crpt-116srpt319/
, SHA-256 6955c2233d4e58ecaa0d674d7f4b9f31fa7765fa87ca73f5d9648133cd06d348.Full text
1
Calendar No. 622
116TH CONGRESS REPORT
" SENATE !
2d Session 116–319
PPE SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY
ACT OF 2020
R E P O R T
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
TO ACCOMPANY
S. 4158
TO EXAMINE THE EXTENT OF THE RELIANCE OF THE UNITED
STATES ON FOREIGN PRODUCERS FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND PRODUCE
RECOMMENDATIONS TO SECURE THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
DECEMBER 14, 2020.—Ordered to be printed
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
19–010 WASHINGTON : 2020
congress.#13
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4012 Sfmt 4012 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Staff Director
JOSEPH C. FOLIO III, Chief Counsel
BARRETT F. PERCIVAL, Professional Staff Member
DAVID M. WEINBERG, Minority Staff Director
ZACHARY I. SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel
CHRISTOPHER J. MULKINS, Minority Deputy Director of Homeland Security
LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk
(II)
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
Calendar No. 622
116TH CONGRESS REPORT
" SENATE !
2d Session 116–319
PPE SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2020
DECEMBER 14, 2020.—Ordered to be printed
Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 4158]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
to which was referred the bill (S. 4158) to examine the extent of
the reliance of the United States on foreign producers for personal
protective equipment during the COVID–19 pandemic and produce
recommendations to secure the supply chain of personal protective
equipment, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with amendments and an amendment to the title, and recommends
that the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1
II. Background and the Need for Legislation ................................................... 2
III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 4
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 4
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 4
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
The purpose of S. 4158, PPE Supply Chain Transparency Act, is
to require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (FEMA) to produce a report that assesses the supply
chain for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID–
19 pandemic. Following enactment of this bill, the report must be
made available within 90 days to the appropriate congressional
committees and the public. The contents of the report must include
the amount and variation of PPE procured by FEMA from foreign
manufacturers, U.S. manufacturers, and manufacturers from the
People’s Republic of China. In addition, the report must also in-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
2
clude legislative recommendations to improve the domestic supply
chain of PPE.
II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Amid one of the most devastating public health emergencies in
our nation’s history, first responders and health care officials
throughout the United States experienced severe shortages of
PPE.1 The scarcity of PPE emerged as COVID–19 spread swiftly
across the globe, leading some foreign governments, including the
United States, to implement restrictions on the export of certain
PPE.2
In China, which prior to the COVID–19 pandemic produced 50
percent of the world’s PPE, export controls were reportedly exer-
cised as efforts were focused on addressing COVID–19 domesti-
cally.3 According to the Peterson Institute for International Eco-
nomics, ‘‘[a]s the coronavirus took hold in China in January and
February 2020, there was a considerable increase in Chinese de-
mand for PPE.’’ 4 Consequently, this led to ‘‘diminishing supplies
available to the rest of the world.’’ 5 However, in cases where PPE
supplies from China were delivered, reports indicated that products
were at times defective, rendering them useless in the response.6
In the United States, our reliance on the import of PPE became
evident as health officials quickly sounded an alarm warning of the
impending deficiency of PPE inventory.7 On March 30, 2020,
FEMA established the Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force,
charged with ‘‘[e]xecuting a whole-of-America approach to address
limited supply of critical protective and life-saving equipment.’’ 8 As
part of this effort, the Trump administration initiated Project
Airbridge, a public-private partnership that transported PPE and
other supplies from China, cutting down the delivery time from ap-
proximately 30 days to 48 hours, however, shortages of PPE per-
sisted.9 This Committee has examined the contributing causes of
the PPE shortage during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic through
hearings, and other oversight.10
To strengthen the United States’ PPE supply chain, S. 4158
would require a thorough assessment, through a FEMA report, of
1 Andrew Jacobs, et al., ‘At War With No Ammo’: Doctors Say Shortage of Protective Gear Is
Dire, N.Y. Times (March 19, 2020), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/health/
coronavirus-masks-shortage.html.
2 Kay C. Georgi, et al., Reference Guide: Worldwide Export Controls on Face Masks and Other
Medical Personal Protective Equipment, Arent Fox (June 3, 2020), available at https://
www.arentfox.com/perspectives/alerts/reference-guide-worldwide-export-controls-face-masks-and-
other-medical-personal.
3 Chad Brown, China should export more medical gear to battle COVID–19, Peterson Institute
for International Economics (May 5, 2020) available at https://www.piie.com/blogs/trade-and-in-
vestment-policy-watch/china-should-export-more-medical-gear-battle-covid-19.
4 Id.
5 Id.
6 Alice Su, Faulty masks. Flawed tests. China’s quality control problem in leading global
COVID–19 fight, Los Angeles Times (Apr. 10, 2020) available at https://www.latimes.com/world-
nation/story/2020-04-10/china-beijing-supply-world-coronavirus-fight-quality-control.
7 Id. at 1.
8 News Release, Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA COVID–19 Supply Chain
Task Force: Supply Chain Stabilization (Apr. 8, 2020), available at https://www.fema.gov/news-
release/2020/04/08/fema-covid-19-supply-chain-task-force-supply-chain-stabilization.
9 Id.
10 See Evaluating the Federal Government’s Procurement and Distribution Strategies in Re-
sponse to the COVID–19 Pandemic: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Govern-
mental Affairs, 116th Cong. (2020) (question by Sen. Josh Hawley); The Role of the Strategic
National Stockpile in Pandemic Response: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. &
Governmental Affairs, 116th Cong. (2020) (question by Sen. Josh Hawley).
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
3
its resilience and current state. This legislation seeks to contribute
to multiple efforts to expand domestic capacity capability of domes-
tic manufacturers to produce PPE and reduce our dependence on
Chinese PPE imports. As healthcare workers, first responders, and
other personnel continue to address COVID–19, it is imperative
that they are adequately equipped with quality PPE.
III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senator Josh Hawley (R–MO) introduced S. 4158 on July 2, 2020.
The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs. Senators Margaret Wood Hassan and Rick
Scott later joined as cosponsors.
The Committee considered S. 4158 at a business meeting on July
22, 2020. During the business meeting, Senator Hawley offered an
amendment that modifies the definition of personal protective
equipment to align with the definition in the CARES Act.11 The
amendment was adopted by voice vote with Senators Johnson,
Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters,
Carper, Hassan, Harris, and Rosen present.
Ranking Member Gary Peters offered an amendment that would
expand the bill’s reporting requirements to include a requirement
that the Administrator of FEMA collect all requests from states
and Indian Tribes for PPE and medical supplies and make rec-
ommendations to the President on utilizing the full authorities
available under the Defense Production Act, including incentivizing
domestic production of PPE. Among other things, it would also di-
rect the President to issue rated priority purchase orders to procure
equipment and supplies, including PPE, to address current gaps in
medical supplies at a fair and reasonable price.
Senator Jacky Rosen and Josh Hawley offered a second degree
amendment to the Peters amendment to strike the Peters language
and replace it with a requirement that FEMA ‘‘evaluate and sum-
marize’’ how the Defense Production Act has been used during the
COVID–19 response efforts and summarize recommendations for
future use to increase production of PPE. Senators Rosen and
Hawley modified the amendment to strike the word ‘‘evaluate’’ and
require just the summary of previous efforts and potential future
recommendations. The second degree amendment as modified was
adopted by voice vote, as was the underlying Peters amendment as
amended by it, both with Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul,
Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan,
Harris, and Rosen present.
The Committee ordered the bill, as amended by the Hawley
amendment and the Peters amendment as amended by the Rosen-
Hawley second degree amendment as modified, reported favorably,
by voice vote. Senators present were: Johnson, Portman, Paul,
Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan,
Harris, and Rosen.
11 Pub. L. No. 116–136, 116th Cong. (2020).
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
4
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the bill’s short title as the ‘‘PPE Supply
Chain Transparency Act.’’
Section 2. Report
This section defines PPE and requires the FEMA Administrator
to consult with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
produce a report detailing the resilience of the PPE supply chain
during the 2020 COVID–19 pandemic. The report shall be provided
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives, and made publicly available.
In accordance with this section, the report shall include an as-
sessment of the volume and percentage of each type of PPE distrib-
uted by or at the direction of FEMA that was procured from foreign
and domestic manufacturers. Additionally, the report is required to
include an examination of the volume and percentage of PPE (in-
cluding defective PPE) from manufacturers in China. The report
must also include any challenges encountered related to procuring
PPE from foreign manufacturers, the forecasted demand for PPE
on a monthly basis for the next year as well as an analysis of
whether domestic production is sufficient to meet that demand, and
recommendations to secure the supply chain of PPE. Finally, the
report must include a summary of the use of authorities provided
under the Defense Production Act in COVID–19 response efforts
and additional options to use such authorities to increase PPE pro-
duction in the future.
Lastly, the bill includes a direction to amend the title of the bill
to be: ‘‘A bill to examine the extent of the reliance of the United
States on foreign producers for personal protective equipment dur-
ing the COVID–19 pandemic and produce recommendations to se-
cure the supply chain of personal protective equipment and to ex-
pand domestic production of personal protective equipment.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of
the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered
the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will
have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The
Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s state-
ment that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal govern-
ments.
VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
CBO failed to provide the Committee with a cost estimate in
time for the final reporting deadline of the 116th Congress.
VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any provision
of current law, it would not make changes in existing law within
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
5
the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI
of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019010 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6611 E:\HR\OC\SR319.XXX SR319
File and source
- File
- CRPT_crpt-116srpt319_crpt-116srpt319.pdf
- Size
- 228,317 bytes
- SHA-256
- 6955c2233d4e58ecaa0d674d7f4b9f31fa7765fa87ca73f5d9648133cd06d348
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov