Sec. 6. Supply chain resiliency program

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In this section: The term critical industry means— key technology focus areas, as defined in section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as added by section 3(b) of this Act; and areas identified by the report in subsection (f). The term critical infrastructure has the meaning given the term in the Critical Infrastructures Protection Act of 2001 ( 42 U.S.C. 5195c ). The term foreign entity — means— the government of a foreign country; a foreign political party; an individual who is not a protected individual (as defined in section 274B(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) )); or a partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons organized under the laws of, or having its principal place of business in, a foreign country; and includes— any person owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, a person described in subparagraph (A); any person, wherever located, that acts as an agent, representative, or employee of a person described in subparagraph (A); any person that acts in any other capacity at the order or request, or under the direction or control, of— a person described in subparagraph (A); or a person, the activities of which are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in majority part by a person described in subparagraph (A); any person that directly or indirectly through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise owns not less than 25 percent of the equity interests of a person described in subparagraph (A); any person with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct a person described in subparagraph (A); any individual, wherever located, who is a citizen or resident of a country controlled by a person described in subparagraph (A); and any corporation, partnership, association, or other organization organized under the laws of a country controlled by a person described in subparagraph (A).

The term foreign entity of concern means a foreign entity that is— designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary of State under section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1189(a) ); included on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury (commonly known as the SDN list ); owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a government of a foreign country that is a covered nation (as defined in section 2533c(d) of title 10, United States Code); alleged by the Attorney General to have been involved in activities for which a conviction was obtained under— chapter 37 of title 18, United States Code (commonly known as the Espionage Act ); section 951 or 1030 of title 18, United States Code; chapter 90 of title 18, United States Code (commonly known as the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 ); the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); section 224, 225, 226, 227, or 236 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 ( 42 U.S.C. 2274 , 2275, 2276, 2277, and 2284); the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 ( 50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, to be engaged in unauthorized conduct that is detrimental to the national security or foreign policy of the United States.

The term labor organization has the meaning given such term in section 8A(a) of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. The term program means the supply chain resiliency and crisis response program established under subsection (b). The term relevant committees of Congress means— the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; the Committee on Finance of the Senate; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary shall establish in the Department of Commerce a supply chain resiliency and crisis response program to carry out the activities described in subsection (d). The mission of the program is to— ensure the leadership of the United States with respect to industries that are essential to mid-term and long-term national security and economic competitiveness; promote, in partnership with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders, the resiliency of supply chains of the United States and allied or partner countries; and encourage partnerships between the Federal Government and industry, labor organizations, and State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments in order to better respond to supply chain crises.

The program shall— in partnership with the private sector, build resilient and secure supply chains (including through the mid-term and long-term diversification of key supply chains, which shall include the support of small- and medium-sized businesses) that can ensure the access of the United States to critical goods and services in the face of shocks, including pandemic and biological threats, cyberattacks, extreme weather events, terrorist and geopolitical attacks, great power conflict, and other threats to national security, with key parts of such resilience being— the diversification of key supply chains with allies or key partners; and working with allies or key partners through agreements and other commitments; and support collaboration with allies or key partners to collectively build and strengthen resilient global supply chains, including through identifying supply chain vulnerabilities, expanding productive capacity, and stockpiling essential goods.

Under the program, the Secretary, acting through 1 or more bureaus or other divisions of the Department of Commerce as appropriate, shall carry out activities— to map and monitor key supply chains and to identify current and future key supply chain gaps and vulnerabilities in critical industries; to develop or identify opportunities to build domestic capacity, and cooperate with allies or key partners, to address supply chain gaps and vulnerabilities in critical industries; to consult and collaborate with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and, as appropriate, the heads of other Federal departments and agencies to invest in urgent supply chain gaps; to encourage partnerships between the Federal Government and industry, labor organizations, and State, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to better respond to crises; to support the distribution of critical resources to areas that have the greatest needs during crises; to develop contingency plans to ensure a resilient supply chain response for potential crises; to ensure that allies and key partners have supply chains that are capable of supporting critical industries; and to enter into agreements and partnerships with allied or partner governments to promote diversified and resilient supply chains that ensure supply of critical goods to both the United States and allied companies.

The Secretary may— establish a unified coordination group to serve as the primary method for coordinating between and among Federal departments and agencies in response to known supply chain risks as well as for integrating private sector partners into efforts, as appropriate, to— study technical, engineering, and operational data acquired on a voluntary basis from the private sector, in a manner that ensures any data provided by the private sector is kept confidential and as required under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act ); directly receive whistleblower complaints with appropriate protection; and identify key competitiveness challenges in critical industries; enter into agreements with allied or partner governments regarding supply chain security assurances; coordinate with other divisions of the Department of Commerce and other Federal departments and agencies to leverage existing authorities, as of the date of enactment of this Act, to strengthen supply chain resilience; and with the approval of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, transfer funds to, or receive funds from, other departments and agencies to implement the program.

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a review, in coordination with other relevant Federal departments and agencies— identifying— technologies critical to economic competitiveness and national security; and supplies critical to the crisis preparedness of the United States, such as medical supplies, personal protective equipment, disaster response necessities, electrical generation technology, materials essential to critical infrastructure operation or repair and renovation, and other supplies identified by the Secretary; describing— the current domestic manufacturing base and supply chains for those technologies and supplies, including raw materials, production equipment, and other goods essential to the production of those technologies and supplies; and the ability of the United States to maintain readiness and to surge produce those technologies and supplies in response to an emergency; identifying defense, intelligence, homeland, economic, domestic labor supply, natural, geopolitical, or other contingencies that may disrupt, strain, compromise, or eliminate the supply chain for those technologies and supplies; assessing the resiliency and capacity of the domestic, allied, and partner manufacturing base, supply chains, and workforce to support the need for those technologies and supplies, including any single points of failure in those supply chains; assessing flexible manufacturing capacity available in the United States in cases of emergency; making specific recommendations to improve the security and resiliency of manufacturing capacity and supply chains by— developing long-term strategies; increasing visibility throughout multiple supplier tiers; identifying and mitigating risks, including the financial and operational risks of a supply chain, vulnerabilities to extreme weather events, cyberattacks, pandemic and biological threats, terrorist and geopolitical attacks, and other emergencies, and exposure to gaps in domestic sourcing and import exposure; identifying enterprise resource planning systems that are compatible across supply chain tiers and are affordable for small and medium-sized businesses; understanding the total cost of ownership, total value contribution, and other best practices that encourage strategic partnerships throughout the supply chain; understanding Federal procurement opportunities to increase resiliency of supply chains for goods and services and fill gaps in domestic purchasing; identifying policies to maximize domestic job retention and creation, including workforce development programs; identifying and mitigating risks associated with allied or key partner countries in building more resilient supply chains; and identifying such other services as the Secretary considers necessary; providing guidance on technologies and supplies to be prioritized for assistance and other activities under the Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and other relevant Federal agencies; reviewing and, if appropriate, expanding the sourcing of goods associated with critical technology areas from allies or key partners, including recommendations for coordination with allies or key partners on sourcing critical products; and monitoring and strengthening the financial and operational health of small and medium enterprises in domestic, allied, and partner supply chains to mitigate risks and ensure diverse, competitive supplier markets that are less vulnerable to single points of failure.

To the extent needed to carry out the program, the Secretary may— utilize hiring authorities under section 3372 of title 5, United States Code, to staff the program with employees from other Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, and other organizations as described in that section with relevant experience in supply chain management and investment in the same manner and subject to the same conditions that apply to such individuals utilized to accomplish other missions of the Department of Commerce; appoint and fix the compensation of such temporary personnel as may be necessary to implement the requirements of this section relating to the program, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service; and appoint an individual appointed under subparagraph (B), after serving continuously for not less than 2 years, to a position in the Department of Commerce in the same manner that an employee serving in a position in the competitive service may be transferred, reassigned, or promoted.

Any assignment provided under paragraph (1)(A) shall be made without reimbursement. An individual appointed as described in paragraph (1)(C) shall be considered to be appointed under a career-conditional appointment, unless the individual, as of the date on which the individual is appointed, has completed a sufficient amount of creditable service to attain a permanent career appointment. The Secretary shall carry out the program established under section 9902 of the William M.

(Mac)Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 ( Public Law 116–283 ) as part of the program. Section 9902(a)(1) of the William M.

(Mac)Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 ( Public Law 116–283 ) is amended by striking in the Department of Commerce and inserting as part of the program established under section 6 of the . Endless Frontier Act Concurrent with the annual submission by the President of a budget under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a report that contains a summary of all activities carried out under this section for the year covered by the report. The Secretary of Commerce shall, as appropriate, coordinate with the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, including the Secretary of State and the United States Trade Representative, in the implementation of this program. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any private entity— to request assistance from the Secretary; or that requested such assistance from the Secretary to implement any measure or recommendation suggested by the Secretary. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section, which shall remain available until expended. Of the amounts made available in a fiscal year to carry out this section, not more than 2 percent of those amounts shall be available to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce to conduct oversight activities with respect to the program. Of the amounts made available in a fiscal year to carry out this section, the Secretary may transfer not more than 5 percent of those amounts to the account under the heading Department of Commerce—Salaries and Expenses to provide for administration and oversight activities relating to the program.

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