Letter to Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President-Elect - Heinrich, Luján Support Biden Plan To Fully Utilize Defense Production Act, Increase Supply Of Necessary Medical Equipment And Supplies

Letter

Dear President-elect Biden:
We write in support of taking immediate action once you assume office to fully utilize the
Defense Production Act (DPA) and all other federal acquisition authorities at your disposal to
rapidly increase the production and stockpiling of critical medical, testing and protective
equipment supplies. The Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and their
efforts to be transparent with your transition team have been woefully inadequate, and we
recognize the significant obstacles ahead. Given the continued supply chain issues that we have
seen over the past year, we believe it is in the best interest of the American public to shore up our
access to critical supplies immediately and in the long term through all available DPA
authorities.
Failure to fully utilize the DPA during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted
in significant loss of life. Even now, continued reluctance to fully tap into DPA authorities is
having a dangerous impact on our response to the virus and our ability to scale up vaccine
production and distribution. The DPA can help us reach our goal of vaccinating enough of the
American public to achieve herd immunity by ramping up production of sterile needles, rubber
stoppers, syringes and other vaccine supplies now. Given the current lack of a national vaccine
plan, we need to use every tool available to make up the ground we have lost. The DPA could
also be used to regulate vaccine distribution, ensure that companies do not charge for the vaccine
in the future and enhance production of materials needed for vaccines to address future
pandemics.
Furthermore, we must work to build our domestic supplies and capabilities of raw materials and
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The U.S. did not have sufficient domestic sources of
critical PPE, which was exacerbated by a shortage of raw materials such as nonwoven melt
blown material used to manufacture N95 and N99 masks. American manufacturers have stepped
up to fill the gaps in domestic manufacturing of PPE, but the DPA should be used to ensure that
these manufacturers, many of whom have acted in the interest of public health and without the
assistance that DPA authority provides, have standing government orders and greater access to
affordable, domestically sourced raw materials.
In addition, increasing the use of the DPA and other federal acquisition authorities to incentivize
"Made in America" PPE and medical supplies will be a boon to patriotic American
manufacturers that stepped up during the pandemic, and will make us significantly better
prepared for future emergencies. President Trump has not used his DPA authority sufficiently
enough to award adequate medical supply contracts for the nation's needs. We must immediately
do more to re-shore the most in-demand PPE, such as nitrile gloves, nearly all of which are
manufactured in China. Ongoing negligence and chronic missteps have left us unprepared, and
have created chaotic markets of severe price gouging and bidding wars that will make it more
difficult for your incoming administration to ensure we have the supplies we need.
Make no mistake, a dependable and resilient domestic manufacturing capacity to respond to a
global pandemic is a national security imperative. Given the opaque nature of the transition and
the lack of transparency from the current administration, we understand that your team may not
yet have full insight into the state of the medical supply pipeline and Strategic National
Stockpile. We stand ready to partner with you to help overcome these substantial obstacles. Your
use of executive action to utilize the extraordinary authorities under DPA will support a more
functional response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that America is stronger now and
more resilient when the next pandemic occurs.
Sincerely,