WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), are pressing President Donald Trump to use an existing authorization, the Defense Production Act (DPA), to strengthen America’s domestic manufacturing capacity and supply to meet the nation’s urgent pandemic safety equipment needs.
“It is critical that we substantially and immediately bolster domestic testing capacity to identify cases and, accordingly, help slow the spread of COVID-19,” the senators wrote. “In addition to meeting the acute and immediate needs of our health care system, we must also anticipate potential medium to long term needs for ventilators, PPE, test kits, and other goods as the disease spreads in the coming months, including a potential second wave.”
With over 4,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus within the United States—a conservative estimate given the inadequate supply of tests available—health professionals are sounding the alarm over a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, diagnostic test kits, and other medical supplies that are needed to fight the public health crisis. The shortages have prompted many medical facilities to ration their items, which in turn is jeopardizing the safety of health workers and hindering the effectiveness of response efforts.
“The federal government must lead in making sure our nation’s industrial capability is harnessed to address this urgent need. We urge you immediately to invoke DPA authorities to respond to this pandemic and alleviate these stresses on our health care system,” the senators continued.
The DPA was first passed in 1950 to authorize the president to undertake actions to boost domestic manufacturing of goods in extraordinary circumstances. In 2009, Congress extended that authority to include domestic preparedness and national emergency response efforts.
In addition to Senators Merkley, Wyden, and Brown, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tom Carper (D-DE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tom Udall (D-NM), Michael Bennett (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Gary Peters (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Doug Jones (D-AL).
The full text of the letter is available here and follows below.
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Dear President Trump:
The Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) authorizes the president to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity and supply in extraordinary circumstances, and to direct the production by private sector firms of critical manufactured goods to meet urgent national security needs. In 2009, Congress amended DPA to explicitly extend those authorities to support domestic preparedness and response to national emergencies, like the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
There are widespread reports of shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, diagnostic test kits, and other medical supplies that require medical professionals to ration existing supplies. The Department of Defense, in collaboration with Governors and appropriate federal agencies, should immediately undertake a national assessment of the supply and anticipated needs for PPE, ventilators, diagnostic test kits, and other needed medical supplies to support the use of its DPA authorities, as well as determining the potential use of the Defense Logistics Agency to support the rapid deployment of needed equipment, including from existing reserves. It is critical that we substantially and immediately bolster domestic testing capacity to identify cases and, accordingly, help slow the spread of COVID-19. In addition to meeting the acute and immediate needs of our health care system, we must also anticipate potential medium to long-term needs for ventilators, PPE, test kits, and other goods as the disease spreads in the coming months, including a potential second wave.
In each of our states and across the nation, we know how to make things, quickly and efficiently. But these decisions cannot be left solely to the market or to individual states. The federal government must lead in making sure our nation’s industrial capability is harnessed to address this urgent need. We urge you to invoke DPA authorities immediately to respond to this pandemic and alleviate these stresses on our health care system.
Sincerely,
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