[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6573 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6573

To create an Office of Domestic Product Promotion within the Department 
       of Commerce to promote the sale of United States products.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2008

Ms. Sutton (for herself, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. 
Jones of North Carolina, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Wilson 
   of Ohio, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Hare) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To create an Office of Domestic Product Promotion within the Department 
       of Commerce to promote the sale of United States products.

    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 ``Office of Domestic Product Promotion 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) In 2007, the United States trade deficit for goods 
        reached $815 billion.
            (2) In March 2005, manufacturing employment in the United 
        States fell to 14.3 million. This number is lower than it was 
        in 1945, when the population of the United States was more than 
        50 percent less.
            (3) In 2006, United States manufacturing's share of the 
        Gross Domestic Product was approximately half what it was in 
        1950.
            (4) The earnings of United States manufacturing workers 
        exceed the earnings of workers in the service and other 
        sectors.
            (5) Each United States manufacturing job creates as many as 
        four related jobs.
            (6) The promotion of domestically produced goods is 
        beneficial for United States workers and the United States 
        economy.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

    In this Act the term ``domestic product'' means a product--
            (1) that is manufactured or produced in the United States; 
        and
            (2) at least 65 percent of the cost of the articles, 
        materials, or supplies of which are grown, mined, produced, or 
        manufactured in the United States.

SEC. 4. OFFICE OF DOMESTIC PRODUCT PROMOTION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established within the 
Department of Commerce an Office of Domestic Product Promotion 
(hereinafter referred to in this Act as the ``Office'').
    (b) Duties.--The Office shall--
            (1) work with United States businesses to promote domestic 
        products;
            (2) provide information and advice to United States 
        businesses on benefits and incentives available to United 
        States businesses for producing domestic products, including 
        the award of Federal procurement contracts and Federal and 
        State tax benefits;
            (3) establish a comprehensive database of businesses that 
        use, sell, or would prefer to use or sell, domestic products, 
        and make the information in such database available to the 
        public, including on a website that a user can sort and search 
        by the State, county, city, or congressional district of a 
        business, as well as by product type;
            (4) develop, with input from private businesses, non-profit 
        businesses, labor organizations, academic institutions, and 
        other entities, tools and ideas on how to promote domestic 
        products; and
            (5) coordinate with State governments to further the 
        Office's performance of its duties.

SEC. 5. COMPOSITION OF THE OFFICE.

    (a) National Director.--
            (1) Selection.--The Office shall be headed by a National 
        Director, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with 
        the advice of the Senate.
            (2) Term.--The National Director shall serve a term of 5 
        years. A National Director whose term has expired may continue 
        to serve until the date on which a successor takes office.
            (3) Compensation.--The National Director shall be 
        compensated at the rate provided for level V of the Executive 
        Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
    (b) Staff.--The National Director shall appoint, terminate, and fix 
the compensation of such employees of the Office as the National 
Director considers necessary to carry out the functions of the Office, 
except that no rate of pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the 
equivalent of the rate provided for level V of the Executive Schedule 
under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 6. REGIONAL OFFICES.

    (a) In General.--The Office shall have six regional offices, each 
headed by a regional director, and one regional office shall be located 
within each of the following six regions:
            (1) Region 1, consisting of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, 
        Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
            (2) Region 2, consisting of the District of Columbia, 
        Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
        Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.
            (3) Region 3, consisting of Virginia, North Carolina, South 
        Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
        Louisiana, and Arkansas.
            (4) Region 4, consisting of California, Oregon, Washington, 
        Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii.
            (5) Region 5, consisting of Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, 
        South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and 
        Wisconsin.
            (6) Region 6, consisting of Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, 
        Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
    (b) Duties.--The regional offices shall--
            (1) support the Office in performing the Office's duties; 
        and
            (2) concentrate on issues affecting the promotion of 
        domestic products produced in the region in which the regional 
        office is located.
    (c) Regional Director and Staff.--
            (1) Appointment.--The National Director shall appoint, 
        terminate, and fix the compensation of each regional director, 
        except that no rate of pay fixed under this paragraph may 
        exceed the equivalent of the rate provided for level V of the 
        Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States 
        Code.
            (2) Qualifications.--Each regional director shall have 
        knowledge of the domestic products produced in the region in 
        which the regional office is located and region-specific issues 
        related to the promotion of the region's domestic products.
            (3) Regional office staff.--Each regional director shall, 
        with the approval of the National Director, appoint, terminate, 
        and fix the compensation of such additional employees of the 
        regional office as the regional director considers necessary to 
        carry out the functions of the regional office, except that no 
        rate of pay fixed under this paragraph may exceed the 
        equivalent of the rate provided for level V of the Executive 
        Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
    (d) Regional Conventions.--Each regional office shall hold an 
annual convention to help connect United States businesses producing 
domestic products with consumers who want to work with domestic 
products, address domestic product production issues, and generate 
ideas on how to promote domestic products.

SEC. 7. REPORTS TO THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONGRESS.

    The National Director and the Secretary of Commerce shall submit an 
annual report to the President and the Congress on the operation of the 
Office, including recommendations on strategies for promoting domestic 
products.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act.
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