[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5908 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5908

To require the Federal Government to buy paper and paper products from 
                           American sources.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2012

 Ms. Baldwin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Federal Government to buy paper and paper products from 
                           American sources.

    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 ``Purchasing American Generates 
Employment Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO BUY PAPER AND PAPER PRODUCTS FROM AMERICAN 
              SOURCES; EXCEPTIONS.

    (a) Requirement.--Except as provided in subsections (c) through 
(f), funds appropriated or otherwise available to a Federal department 
or agency may not be used for the procurement of an item described in 
subsection (b) if the item is not grown, reprocessed, reused, or 
produced in the United States.
    (b) Covered Items.--An item referred to in subsection (a) is any 
article or item of paper or paper products, including any of the 
following:
            (1) Xerographic paper.
            (2) Printer paper.
            (3) Copier paper.
            (4) Fax paper.
            (5) Envelopes.
            (6) Toilet tissue.
            (7) Paper towels.
            (8) Toilet seat covers.
            (9) Facial tissues.
            (10) Thermal paper.
            (11) Thermal receipt paper.
            (12) Security paper.
            (13) Carbonless paper.
    (c) Availability Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to the 
extent that the head of the Federal department or agency concerned 
determines that satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of any 
such article or item described in subsection (b) grown, reprocessed, 
reused, or produced in the United States cannot be procured as and when 
needed at United States market prices.
    (d) Exception for Certain Procurements.--Subsection (a) does not 
apply to the following:
            (1) Procurements outside the United States in support of 
        combat operations or procurements of any item listed in 
        subsection (b) in support of contingency operations.
            (2) Procurements by vessels in foreign waters.
    (e) Exception for Commissaries, Exchanges, and Other 
Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities.--Subsection (a) does not apply 
to items purchased for resale purposes in commissaries, exchanges, or 
nonappropriated fund instrumentalities operated by the Department of 
Defense.
    (f) Applicability to Contracts and Subcontracts for Procurement of 
Commercial Items.--This section is applicable to contracts and 
subcontracts for the procurement of commercial items notwithstanding 
section 1906 of title 41, United States Code.
    (g) Geographic Coverage.--In this section, the term ``United 
States'' includes the possessions of the United States.
    (h) Notification Required Within 7 Days After Contract Award if 
Certain Exceptions Applied.--In the case of any contract for the 
procurement of an item described in subsection (b), if the head of the 
Federal department or agency concerned applies an exception set forth 
in subsection (c) with respect to that contract, the head shall, not 
later than 7 days after the award of the contract, post a notification 
that the exception has been applied on the Internet site maintained by 
the General Services Administration known as www.fbo.gov.
    (i) Federal Department or Agency Defined.--In this section, the 
term ``Federal department or agency'' has the meaning provided the term 
``Executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
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