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H.R. 6398: Frontline Health Care Workers Assistance Act

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H.R. 6398: Frontline Health Care Workers Assistance Act

116th Congress · introduced 2020-03-26 · Health · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2020-03-26 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Crow, Jason [D-CO-6] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Frontline Health Care Workers Assistance Act

Plain summary

Frontline Health Care Workers Assistance Act This bill directs certain actions to procure equipment necessary to prevent, identify, and mitigate cases of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). The National Response Coordination Center of the Federal Emergency Management Agency must, within seven days, submit a report to Congress and the President that (1) assesses the need for equipment, including personal protective equipment and ventilators, across the United States; and (2) identifies the industry sectors and manufacturers capable of fulfilling purchase orders for such equipment, as well as government-owned and privately owned stockpiles of such equipment that could be refurbished. Within 24 hours, the President must issue a purchase order with the highest priority rating under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) for a specified number of N-95 respirators and face masks. (DPAS is used to prioritize national defense-related contracts, subcontracts, and purchase orders.) Within seven days of receiving the center's report, the President must also issue priority purchase orders for the equipment identified in the report under authorities provided by the Defense Production Act of 1950. (That act confers upon the President a broad set of authorities to influence domestic industry in order to provide essential materials and goods for the national defense.) The bill waives certain requirements under the act related to congressional notification and authorization and makes specified funds available for these efforts.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Frontline Health Care Workers Assistance Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Crow, Jason [D-CO-6] · 58 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), John B. Larson (D-CT), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Lois Frankel (D-FL), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Terri A. Sewell (D-AL), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Darren Soto (D-FL), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), André Carson (D-IN), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Crow, Jason [D-CO-6] reported raising $4.0 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong116-hr6398 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116