U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and several colleagues introduced the Made in America Emergency Preparedness Act.
The legislation authorizes the creation of a National Commission on United States Preparedness for National Emergencies. This Commission would be modeled on the 9/11 Commission and would look at the national emergency response by the United States government and private sector to this pandemic. The Commission would report findings to Congress and the president on what steps and items are necessary to ensure America’s effective response to future national emergencies.
One of the purposes of the Commission would be to investigate the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Commission would also be required to provide a report and recommendations to the president on domestically manufactured goods that are essential for a response to national emergencies. To ensure that federal procurement supply chains are more self-sufficient and can rely on more domestic sources of production, this bill also mandates that by 2026, federal agencies responsible for responding to national emergencies are procuring essential supplies, like medication and personal protective equipment, from domestic sources or manufacturing in the United States.
“We simply cannot outsource our public safety and national security to foreign nations. We must reconstitute our healthcare and public safety supply chain back to the United States. Medical products, protective equipment, pharmaceuticals, emergency response equipment and all other critical items and materials needed to respond to a national emergency must be produced domestically for domestic consumption, especially during a critical, time-sensitive crisis,” Fitzpatrick said. “Our response to the September 11th terror attacks was ‘Never Again.’ We must have that same exact response to COVID-19. This landmark, bipartisan legislation does just that.”
To help incentivize businesses and manufacturers to come into compliance with the federal procurement requirements and encourage domestic production, this bill would allow immediate expensing for firms that incur costs associated with expanded pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturers within the United States, including personal protective equipment and any other item determined by the National Commission on United States Preparedness for National Emergencies to be necessary.
