H.R. 3542

[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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