[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3542 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3542
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require the
establishment of a DPA Registry, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 21, 2025
Mr. Himes (for himself and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to require the
establishment of a DPA Registry, 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 ``CLEAR (Committee Leadership and
Enhanced Accountability for Resilience) Defense Production Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT COMMITTEE.
(a) In General.--Section 722 of the Defense Production Act of 1950
(50 U.S.C. 4567) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``on the effective use
of the priorities and allocations authorities under this Act''
and inserting ``the effective use of the authorities provided
under this Act'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking
``and'' at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) the chairperson of the Committee.''.
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the
following:
``(2) Chairperson of the committee.--
``(A) In general.--The Chairperson of the Committee
shall be a senior, full-time employee of the Department
of Commerce classified as a member of the Senior
Executive Service, as defined in section 2101a of title
5, United States Code, selected by the Secretary of
Commerce.
``(B) Reporting authority.--The Chairperson of the
Committee shall report directly to the Secretary of
Commerce on all matters--
``(i) undertaken under this Act; and
``(ii) relating to and the Committee.
``(C) Duties.--The Chairperson of the Committee's
primary job responsibility shall be to lead the
Committee and help fulfill the responsibilities of the
Committee under this section.
``(D) Provision of information.--The Chairperson of
the Committee shall provide information to each member
of the Committee about--
``(i) the frequency of the meetings of the
Committee and the expected content of such
meetings;
``(ii) the type and quality of information
that needs to be shared with the Committee by
Federal departments and agencies on the planned
and actual use of authorities provided under
this Act; and
``(iii) any other information necessary for
the President, acting through the Committee, to
coordinate and plan for the effective use of
the authorities provided under this Act.'';
(3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
``(c) Coordination of the Committee Activities.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall--
``(A) ensure that the Chairperson of the Committee
has the necessary staff and resources to carry out this
section; and
``(B) shall submit funding requests on behalf of
the Committee and the Chairperson for inclusion in the
President's budget of the United States;
``(2) Coordinator.--The members of the Committee shall, not
later than 90 days after the enactment of this subsection,
designate one member of the Senior Executive Service, as
defined in section 2101a of title 5, from each department,
agency, or independent establishment of the Federal Government
to which the President has delegated authority under this Act,
to coordinate with the Chairperson of the Committee as required
by the Chairperson on the effective use of the authorities
provided under this Act.'';
(4) in subsection (d)--
(A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and
inserting the following:
``(1) a review of the use of the authorities provided under
this Act by each department, agency, or independent
establishment of the Federal Government to which the President
has delegated authority under this Act; and
``(2) recommendations about how to effectively use the
authorities provided under this Act in a manner that is
consistent with the statement of policy set forth in section
2(b).'';
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``to support the
effective use of the priorities and allocations
authorities in this Act'' and inserting ``to support
the effective use of the authorities provided under
this Act'';
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ``the use of the
priorities and allocations authorities in this Act;''
and inserting ``the effective use of the authorities
provided under this Act; and''; and
(D) by striking paragraph (5) and redesignating
paragraph (6) as paragraph (5).
(b) Comptroller General Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall issue a report to the Committee on
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
(2) Contents.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) an assessment of the quality of the
coordination and planning relating to the effective use
of the authorities provided under the Defense
Production Act of 1950 completed by the Committee under
section 722 of the Defense Production Act of 1950;
(B) a review of the information provided by the
Chairperson of the Committee to members of the
Committee under section 722(b)(2) of the Defense
Production Act of 1950;
(C) an identification of the authorities provided
under the Defense Production Act of 1950 that may need
additional attention from the Committee established
under section 722 of the Defense Production Act of
1950; and
(D) any other recommendations relating to how the
Committee established under section 722 of the Defense
Production Act of 1950 could improve its coordination
and planning.
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY REGISTRY OF USES OF DPA AUTHORITIES.
Title VII of the of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C.
4501 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 724. REGISTRY OF USES OF DPA AUTHORITIES.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the
Chairperson of the Defense Production Act Committee established under
section 722 of this Act, shall, not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, establish a secure, electronic database
that can include records about how each authority under this Act is
used by the Federal Government (in this section referred to as the `DPA
Registry').
``(b) Contents.--The DPA Registry established by the Secretary of
Commerce under subsection (a) shall--
``(1) identify each use of an authority provided under this
Act by any Federal agency on or after the date that is 1 year
before the date of the enactment of this section; and
``(2) describe, with respect to each use identified under
paragraph (1)--
``(A) why the authority was used; and
``(B) how the authority was used to accomplish an
objective in support of the national defense of the
United States.
``(c) Addition of Information to the DPA Registry.--
``(1) In general.--The head of each Federal agency that
uses the authorities provided under this Act shall, not later
than 180 days after the establishment of the DPA database under
subsection (a), enter any data into the DPA database that the
Chairperson of the Defense Production Act Committee may
require, including information about each use of an authority
provided under the Act by the Federal agency on or after the
date that is 1 year before the date of the enactment of this
section.
``(2) Update.--The head of each Federal agency that uses
the authorities provided under this Act shall, each quarter,
update the information in the DPA registry and submit any new
information that the Chairperson of the Defense Production Act
Committee may require.
``(d) Security of DPA Registry.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting
through the Chairperson of the Defense Production Act Committee, shall
ensure that the DPA registry is secure from cyber attacks and
manipulation.
``(e) DPA Registry Access.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting
through the Chairperson of the Defense Production Act
Committee, shall ensure that the DPA Registry is structured in
such a way to allow access to varying information for different
types of users, including--
``(A) users employed by or contracted by Federal
agencies or the Congress; and
``(B) users who are members of the public.
``(2) Sensitive information.--The Secretary of Commerce,
acting through the Chairperson of the Defense Production Act
Committee, may limit access to certain types of information in
the DPA Registry that may be sensitive to the national security
of the United States.
``(3) Promotion of transparency.--The Secretary of
Commerce, shall in carrying out this section, maximize
transparency by providing as much access to information in the
DPA Registry as is practicable while preserving the national
security of the United States.''.
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