In this Opinion written for Defense News, Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting, suggests how to use the Defense Production Act to make it the foundation for America’s arsenal of the future.
The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing this week on the reauthorization of the Defense Production Act is timely and important. The DPA is an essential tool for national security that was little known prior to COVID-19. Its use during the pandemic helped the U.S. government mobilize its industrial base to allocate and distribute goods as well as make investments to build industrial capacity in critical areas such as ventilators and personal protective equipment during a time of national crisis.
That recent experience, coupled with the daunting national security challenges facing us today, makes it a great time to strengthen the DPA for the future. Here’s how we can do it:
- Under DPA Title I, the administration should conduct a thorough review of relevant executive orders and regulations to better orient DPA policies and practices to address future national security challenges.
- Shift DPA Title III delegation from the president to the secretary level of those agencies with Title III authority
- Adapt Title III purchase commitments to reduce investment risks for business and shift to traditional DPA appropriations that do not expire
- Make wider use of Title VII voluntary agreements to increase standby industrial capacity
- Also under Tible VII, create a National Defense Executive Reserve, a volunteer group of industrial executives like WWII’s War Production Board, to advise or support industrial mobilization efforts