COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW OF USE OF AUTHORITY UNDER THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950.

SEC. 889. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW OF USE OF AUTHORITY UNDER THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT OF 1950.(a) Thorough Review Required.—The Comptroller General of the United States (in this section referred to as the “Comptroller”) shall conduct a thorough review of the application of the Defense Production Act of 1950, covering the period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2003 (Public Law 108–195) and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.(b) Considerations.—In conducting the review required by this section, the Comptroller shall examine—(1) the relevance and utility of the authorities provided under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to meet the security challenges of the 21st Century;(2) the manner in which the authorities provided under such Act have been used by the Federal Government—(A) to meet security challenges;(B) to meet current and future defense requirements;(C) to meet current and future energy requirements;(D) to meet current and future domestic emergency and disaster response and recovery requirements;(E) to reduce the interruption of critical infrastructure operations during a terrorist attack, natural catastrophe, or other similar national emergency; and(F) to safeguard critical components of the United States industrial base, including American aerospace and shipbuilding industries;(3) the economic impact of foreign offset contracts;(4) the relative merit of developing rapid and standardized systems for use of the authorities provided under the Defense Production Act of 1950, by any Federal agency; and(5) such other issues as the Comptroller determines relevant.(c) Report to Congress.—Not later than 150 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services and on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on the review conducted under this section.(d) Rules of Construction on Protection of Information.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law—122 STAT. 269(1) the provisions of section 705(d) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2155(d)) shall not apply to information sought or obtained by the Comptroller for purposes of the review required by this section; and(2) provisions of law pertaining to the protection of classified information or proprietary information otherwise applicable to information sought or obtained by the Comptroller in carrying out this section shall not be affected by any provision of this section.