On November 15, 2021, the President signed The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58). In addition to authorizing funds for federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, under Section, Subtitle C of the IIJA, the “Make PPE in America”, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) are required to purchase all personal protective Equipment (PPE) from American suppliers (manufacturers and distributors) with 100 percent American-made components.
HHS, DHS, and VA are required, under IIJA, to invest in a long-term strategy to meet the needs of its workforce, through the domestic production of PPE–items critical to the US national response to a public health crisis, and sustainment of a strong and robust PPE supply chain. As part of this long-term strategy, IIJA, Section 70953 (a)(3)(b) “Requirement of Long-Term Contracts for Domestically Manufactured Personal Protective Equipment” requires that all PPE Contracts be issued for a duration of at least two years, plus all option periods necessary, to encourage investment in the production of PPE, such that 100% of the PPE, including the materials and components thereof, are grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), as a component organization/sub-agency of HHS (or “The Department”) has an ongoing operational need for an array of medical grade and surgical gloves to sustain mission critical activities for health and longevity mission critical research.
The Department does not currently have an existing agency-wide IDIQ for PPE and requires one to meet multiple policy mandates as well as its own operational mission requirements. The HHS workforce is one of the largest Government consumers of gloves in its mission work for scientific research, patient care, and operational continuity.
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