[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4265 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4265

To apply the Buy American Act to articles, materials, and supplies for 
                     use outside the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 1996

Mr. Neumann (for himself and Ms. Kaptur) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To apply the Buy American Act to articles, materials, and supplies for 
                     use outside the United States.

    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 ``Buy American Improvement Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a et seq.) currently 
        provides an exemption that allows for Federal agencies to 
        purchase foreign-made goods if the goods are for use outside 
        the United States. The exemption applies even if American-made 
        goods are available.
            (2) This exemption is a serious loophole, allowing the use 
        of United States tax dollars to purchase foreign goods. In 
        1995, for example, the Department of Defense alone purchased 
        $3.8 billion in foreign-made goods.
            (3) This exemption should be ended to ensure that American 
        companies and American workers receive fair and equitable 
        treatment in all Federal Government procurement contracts.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF BUY AMERICAN ACT TO ARTICLES, MATERIALS, AND 
              SUPPLIES FOR USE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

    The Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 2--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by inserting before the 
                period at the end the following: ``, including for use 
                outside the United States''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence, by striking out ``with 
                respect to articles, materials, or supplies for use 
                outside the United States, or''; and
            (2) in section 4(b)--
                    (A) by striking out paragraph (1); and
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
                paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.
                                 <all>