Pingree, King call for government to direct production of scarce protective equipment

The World Health Organization first raised warnings of a global scarcity of PPE — the gloves, respirator masks and face visors that medical staff wear to prevent contracting and spreading disease — in early February. 

Now, nearly two months later, there is a steady stream of reporting from around the country and in Maine on the workarounds health workers are resorting to amid growing scarcity of protective supplies. Nurses are using bleach and experimenting with ultraviolet light to sterilize their masks for reuse. People around the country are volunteering to sew masks for health care workers at home. 

Maine’s First District Rep. Chellie Pingree was the first in the state’s federal delegation to call for the government to take the reins in the manufacture and distribution of PPE.

In a March 13 letter, Pingree and 57 of other members of Congress called on President Donald Trump to invoke his authority under the Defense Production Act, a federal law enacted during the Korean War that authorizes the administration to force industry to expand production.

Pingree said the full force of the federal government could be used to coordinate the supply chain, much like a major wartime mobilization of the past.

“During World War II, our country adapted to the demands of the time to produce mass quantities of bombers, tanks, and many small items needed to save democracy and freedom in the world. We know what the demands of this time are, and we must act now to meet these demands,” Pingree said in a statement.

Pingree’s call to invoke the Defense Production Act has been joined by the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, trade groups, governors, attorneys general, more than 100 former national security officials, as well as by Democratic presidential candidates former Vice-President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

The Trump administration has resisted such pressure, however. In response, Pingree on Tuesday introduced legislation, the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act, with U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) that would require President Trump to identify private-sector capacity to produce 500 million N95 respirators, 200,000 medical ventilators, 20 million face shields, 500 million pairs of gloves, and 20 million surgical gowns, along with any other medical equipment deemed necessary.

On Wednesday, Maine’s independent Senator Angus King announced that he is cosponsoring the Senate’s version of the same bill.

“Through federal leadership, we can establish a clear-cut chain of command that maximizes production and ensures that we are properly allocating this lifesaving equipment,” King said in a statement.

Pingree’s office said the legislation would also require the administration to direct the distribution of these supplies “to end the unnecessary competition between states and health care institutions for these increasingly scarce resources.”

Competition between states for supplies is already a reality in Maine. On Tuesday, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Nirav Shah said he did not want to disclose which brand of equipment his agency was looking to procure to process the backlog of 1,300 COVID-19 tests. 

“One of things that we are concerned about is that if we purchase this equipment, other states may do so as well,” Shah said at a press conference.

Chamber of Commerce lobbied Trump not to use Defense Production Act

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that there were potential ideological concerns inside the Trump administration that made the president reluctant to use the force of the Defense Production Act to directly coordinate private industry.

“President Trump’s refusal to invoke the Defense Production Act to commandeer resources for the federal government is based on a bet that he can cajole the nation’s biggest manufacturers and tech firms to come together in a market-driven, if chaotic, consortium that will deliver critical equipment — from masks to ventilators — in time to abate a national crisis,” the Times reported.

“We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business,” Trump said at a news briefing on Sunday. “Call a person over in Venezuela, ask them how did nationalization of their businesses work out. Not too well.”

The Times further reported that the administration has been persuaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major national corporate lobby, to resist using the act.

“They say the move could prove counterproductive, imposing red tape on companies precisely when they need flexibility to deal with closed borders and shuttered factories,” the Times reported.

On Monday, six U.S. senators, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter to the administration, condemning the Chamber’s lobbying for putting the “the short-term desires of its members above the economic and public health needs of hundreds of millions of American families.”

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce did not respond to Beacon’s request for comment on the legislation introduced by Pingree and King this week.

Mills administration says businesses are ‘eager to help’

The administration of Governor Janet Mills has so far shown some indication that it favors a similarly market-driven approach to the manufacture of scarce medical supplies.

At a press briefing Thursday, Shah said the administration was looking into tapping into Maine’s manufacturing base to fill critical supply gaps. However, when asked by Beacon about Pingree and King’s proposal, he stopped short of joining their call to invoke the Defense Production Act at the federal level.

“What my team and I have observed is that manufacturers have not had to be told to do anything,” he said. “They are willing, eager and able to help Maine people with this effort.”

On Friday, the Bangor Daily News reported that some Maine manufactures that have shown interest in supporting the state’s response.

“Surgical masks, which are made from cloth, are a relatively smooth transition for businesses including L.L. Bean, which offered to convert its Brunswick production facility to produce medical gear. The Gorham company Flowhold has gone from making outdoor gear to plastic face shields, while breweries and distilleries have diverted some production to make hand sanitizer,” BDN reported.

Shah said the administration is having discussions with businesses, but offered few details about how that coordination is being ramped up to meet the growing need for medical supplies.

“I can’t speak to any one particular manufacturer and what their capacity and production plans would be,” he said. “What I can say is that the conversation that the administration has had with manufacturers as well as with the University of Maine have been very fruitful.”

Top photo: the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act, sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree and Sen. Angus King, call for the federal government to coordinate manufacture of 500 million N95 respirators. | Beacon