联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）的管理者周二宣布，特朗普政府首次援引《国防生产法》的规定，以加快冠状病毒检测的生产。
管理员彼得·盖诺（Peter Gaynor）对CNN的约翰·伯曼（John Berman）说：“我们需要动手使用一些测试套件。” “我们要做的第二件事是在我们拥有的用于5亿口罩的口罩合同中插入某种语言。[法律]语言将是今天的语言。”
到目前为止，唐纳德·特朗普总统一直不愿援引1950年《国防生产法》最有力的权力，在多种情况下将其描述为更多的杠杆作用点，而不是他的政府采用的工具。
上周，特朗普签署了一项行政命令，授权卫生与公共服务部秘书亚历克斯·阿扎尔（Alex Azar）利用法律的权力，要求与冠状病毒反应相关的政府合同应获得绝对优先权。
在周日的新闻发布会上，特朗普忽略了记者关于更积极地部署法律以增加关键用品的产量的问题，称“我们是一个不以国有化我们的业务为基础的国家”。
“请委内瑞拉的人打来电话。问他们，'他们的公司国有化如何进行？” 不太好，”总统补充说。“将我们的业务国有化的概念不是一个好概念。”
在同一个新闻发布会的早些时候，白宫贸易顾问彼得·纳瓦罗（Peter Navarro）称赞总统迄今为止对法律的有限使用，称这为他提供了对私营企业的“安静杠杆”。
尽管政府过去曾声称对任何需要它的人都可以进行测试，但这种说法实际上并未得到证实。
除了优先考虑政府命令外，法律还授权总统要求履行某些合同，并指导私营公司的制造决策。
盖诺（Gaynor）周二表示，政府在冠状病毒流行期间首次调用了其中一些权力，但他警告说，在使用法律时要“产生最佳效果”，“考虑周全和有意义”很重要。
盖诺说，根据该法案的分配权限（指导制造商的决定）将被用来采购约60,000枚冠状病毒检测试剂盒。
他补充说：“我们将使用它。我们将在需要时使用它，而今天我们将使用它。”
批评者指责总统行动太慢，无法利用法律的力量来增加急需的用品的生产，包括N95呼吸器和呼吸机。
纽约州州长安德鲁·库莫（Andrew Cuomo）经常引起人们对该州医疗用品短缺的关注，他在周二宣布，他所在的州（目前是美国疫情的震中所在地）需要另外提供30,00台呼吸机。
库莫在推特上写道：“这将是生与死之间的区别。”他补充说，他“不理解不愿使用联邦国防生产法制造呼吸机”。
“更待何时？” 他加了。
FEMA SAYS DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT TO BE USED FOR FIRST TIME TODAY TO CREATE 60,000 CORONAVIRUS TEST KITS
The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Tuesday that the Trump administration has for the first time invoked provisions of the Defense Production Act to speed up the production of coronavirus testing.
"There's some test kits we need to get our hands on," Administrator Peter Gaynor told CNN's John Berman. "The second thing we're going to do is insert some language into these mask contracts we have for the 500 million masks. [The law's] language will be in that today."
Until now, President Donald Trump has been hesitant to invoke the most forceful powers of the 1950 Defense Production Act, describing it in multiple settings as more of a point of leverage than a tool his administration would employ.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order authorizing Alex Azar, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to use the law's powers to require that government contracts related to the coronavirus response receive absolute priority.
At a press conference Sunday, Trump shrugged off a reporter's question about more aggressively deploying the law to increase production of critical supplies, claiming, "We're a country not based on nationalizing our business."
"Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, 'How did nationalization of their businesses work out?' Not too well," the president added. "The concept of nationalizing our business is not a good concept."
Earlier at the same press conference, Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser, hailed the president's limited use of the law thus far, saying it provided him with "quiet leverage" over private industry.
While the administration has in the past claimed that testing was available to anyone who needed it, this assertion has not been borne out in reality.
In addition to prioritizing government orders, the law authorizes the president to require the performance of certain contracts and to direct manufacturing decisions at private companies.
While Gaynor said Tuesday that the administration was invoking some of these powers for the first time yet during the coronavirus epidemic, he cautioned that it was important to be "thoughtful and meaningful" in using the law in order to produce "the best result."
Gaynor said that the allocation authority under the act—directing manufacturers' decisions—would be invoked to procure around 60,000 coronavirus test kits.
"We're going to use it. We're going to use it when we need it, and we're going to use it today," he added.
Critics have accused the president of moving too slowly to use the law's muscle to ramp up production of critically needed supplies, including N95 respirators and ventilators.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has frequently drawn attention to the state's shortage of medical supplies, announcing Tuesday that his state—home to the current epicenter of the U.S. outbreak—needs an additional 30,00 ventilators.
"It will be the difference between life and death," Cuomo wrote on Twitter, adding that he does not "understand the reluctance to use the federal Defense Production Act to manufacture ventilators."
"If not now, when?" he added.
