[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 171 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 171
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to
identify vulnerabilities in supply chains for United States entities,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 2021
Ms. Stevens (for herself and Mr. Balderson) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to
identify vulnerabilities in supply chains for United States entities,
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 ``Resilient Manufacturing Task Force
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. RESILIENT MANUFACTURING TASK FORCE.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce;
(2) the term ``supply chain bottleneck'' means a limitation
in a production value chain that restricts the overall speed or
reliability of the manufacturing process;
(3) the term ``Task Force'' means the Resilient
Manufacturing Task Force established under subsection (c)(1);
and
(4) the term ``veteran'' has the meaning given the term in
section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the COVID-19 pandemic has--
(A) exposed significant vulnerabilities in the
manufacturing sector of the economy of the United
States; and
(B) led to equipment shortages, supply chain
bottlenecks, and workforce misalignments;
(2) the vulnerabilities described in paragraph (1) go
largely unnoticed until they are revealed by disease outbreaks,
cyber attacks, natural disasters, and other emergencies;
(3) the crises described in paragraph (2) produce valuable
information, the collection and analysis of which can inform
policies to fortify the economy of the United States against
future threats; and
(4) the responsibility for promoting national economic
resilience lies with the Federal Government, which must not
miss the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to
learn from that crisis and prepare the United States to better
withstand future emergencies.
(c) Resilient Manufacturing Task Force.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in
coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the
Secretary of Energy, and the heads of any other Federal
agencies that the Secretary determines appropriate,
shall establish the Resilient Manufacturing Task Force.
(B) Responsibilities of the secretary.--In carrying
out subparagraph (A), the Secretary, in coordination
with the officials described in that subparagraph,
shall--
(i) determine--
(I) the number of members who shall
comprise the Task Force; and
(II) the qualifications of the
members described in subclause (I);
(ii) appoint the members of the Task Force;
and
(iii) establish procedures regarding the
operation of the Task Force, including by
determining the frequency with which the Task
Force shall meet.
(2) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall be the
following:
(A) To identify critical vulnerabilities in the
supply chains of products and resources that are
essential to the economic security of the United
States, focusing in particular on vulnerabilities that
have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
(B) To mitigate the vulnerabilities described in
subparagraph (A) by developing plans for the following:
(i) The formation of a National
Manufacturing Guard, which shall be a reserve
of industry volunteers who are trained and
empowered to, in times of crisis, help manage
manufacturing supply chains, logistics
infrastructure, and workforce resources.
(ii) The establishment of a Supply Chain
Data Exchange, which shall support the National
Manufacturing Guard described in clause (i) by
providing real-time, centralized information on
a national scale regarding, with respect to
manufacturing supply chains, inventory,
capacity, resources, and supply chain
bottlenecks.
(iii) The formation of a Technology Corps
to serve as a workforce pipeline that
prioritizes manufacturing skills that the Task
Force and the National Manufacturing Guard
described in clause (i) determine to be
essential to the economic security of the
United States.
(C) In carrying out subparagraph (B)(iii), to pay
particular attention to increasing educational and
training opportunities for underrepresented minorities,
women, and veterans.
(3) Advice.--In carrying out the duties of the Task Force,
the Task Force shall seek to obtain expertise from the public
and private sectors, including from--
(A) manufacturing extension centers created and
supported under the Hollings Manufacturing Extension
Partnership established under section 25 of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15
U.S.C. 278k);
(B) industry consortia and trade groups;
(C) private business entities, including small
manufacturers;
(D) Federal, State, and local government
specialists, including economic policymakers and
military logistics experts;
(E) academic and research institutions;
(F) labor organizations; and
(G) Manufacturing USA institutes described in
section 34(d) of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(d)).
(4) Termination.--The Task Force shall terminate on the
date that is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary
establishes the Task Force under paragraph (1).
(5) Applicability.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5
U.S.C. App.) shall not apply with respect to the Task Force or
the activities of the Task Force.
(d) Reporting Requirements.--The Secretary shall--
(1) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to Congress a report regarding the formation
of the Task Force, which shall contain--
(A) an identification of the members of the Task
Force, the respective areas of expertise of those
members, and the expected roles of those members; and
(B) a preliminary plan for carrying out the duties
of the Task Force, including forecasts for costs, a
preliminary timeline with respect to the activities of
the Task Force, and the expected resource needs of the
Task Force; and
(2) not later than 90 days after the date on which the Task
Force terminates, submit to Congress a report containing--
(A) a description of the activities of the Task
Force during the 1-year period in which the Task Force
was in effect;
(B) a comprehensive description of how the Task
Force carried out the duties of the Task Force
described in subsection (c)(2), which shall include any
related policy recommendations;
(C) a recommendation regarding whether Congress
should establish a Resilient Manufacturing Advisory
Council to continue the role of the Task Force on an
extended or permanent basis; and
(D) if applicable, a proposal outlining, with
respect to the Council described in subparagraph (C)--
(i) the scope and activities of the
Council; and
(ii) the funding and resource requirements
of the Council.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal years
2021 through 2022 to carry out this section, which shall remain
available until expended.
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