[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2342 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2342
To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting
preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods
and services in the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 18, 2019
Mr. Ryan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on
Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting
preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods
and services in the United States, and for other purposes.
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 ``Retain Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Hundreds of American corporations are shipping
thousands of jobs to foreign countries.
(2) United States companies either send American jobs
overseas, or choose to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of
American workers.
(3) Shifting of jobs occurs in all industry sectors
including manufacturing, services, supply chain, and all
others.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.
(a) Civilian Agency Contracts.--
(1) Amendment.--Chapter 47 of title 41, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 4713. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States
``(a) Preference.--The head of an executive agency shall give a
preference for an offeror that certifies to retain jobs performed in
the United States (regardless of the citizenship of the employee) and
uses products substantially manufactured in the United States and
services provided in the United States for the contract for which an
offer is made.
``(b) Applicability to Subcontracts.--The preference described
under subsection (a) applies to the award of a contract by an executive
agency and the award of any subcontract (at any tier) in the
performance of such contract.
``(c) Certification.--To be eligible for the preference described
under subsection (a), an offeror shall submit a certification that
confirms the offeror and any subcontractor (if applicable)--
``(1) has not relocated jobs from the United States to
foreign countries in the preceding five years;
``(2) has not established foreign facilities to perform the
same function that otherwise could have been performed in the
United States with the intention of manufacturing or providing
the same service and importing the same product or service back
to the United States;
``(3) will not relocate jobs from the United States to
foreign countries during the period of performance of the
contract; and
``(4) will use products substantially manufactured in the
United States and services provided in the United States under
the contract.
``(d) Exception to Certification.--Notwithstanding the requirements
of the certification described under subsection (c), the head of an
executive agency may except an offeror from any of the requirements if
the exception is fully described and justified and one or more of the
following conditions apply:
``(1) The products are not manufactured in the United
States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial
quantities and are not of satisfactory quality.
``(2) There is an unreasonable cost associated with the use
of products substantially manufactured in the United States or
services provided in the United States.
``(3) The use of products substantially manufactured in the
United States or services provided in the United States would
be inconsistent with the public interest.
``(e) Violation of Certification.--If the head of an executive
agency determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in
subsection (c), the head of that executive agency shall terminate the
contract for which the contractor received the preference described in
subsection (a) and the contractor may not receive the preference for a
period of not less than 5 years.
``(f) Report Required.--Not later than November 1 of each year, the
head of an executive agency shall submit to Congress a report that
includes the names of the contractors that have submitted a false
statement or violated any of the requirements of the certification
described in subsection (c) for the previous fiscal year.
``(g) Applicability to Parent Companies and Subsidiaries.--For
purposes of this section, any prohibition on receiving a preference
under subsection (e) applied with respect to a contractor shall apply
to any subsidiary or parent company of the contractor.''.
(2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 41, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
``4713. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States.''.
(b) Defense Contracts.--
(1) Amendment.--Chapter 137 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 2316 the following
new section:
``Sec. 2317. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States
``(a) Preference.--The head of an agency shall give a preference
for an offeror that certifies to retain jobs performed in the United
States (regardless of the citizenship of the employee) in the United
States and uses products substantially manufactured in the United
States and services provided in the United States for the contract for
which an offer is made.
``(b) Applicability to Subcontracts.--The preference described
under subsection (a) applies to the award of a contract by any agency
named in section 2303 of this chapter and the award of any subcontract
(at any tier) in the performance of such contract.
``(c) Certification.--To be eligible for the preference described
under subsection (a), an offeror shall submit a certification that
confirms the offeror and any subcontractor (if applicable)--
``(1) has not relocated jobs from the United States to
foreign countries in the preceding five years;
``(2) has not established foreign facilities to perform the
same function that otherwise could have been performed in the
United States with the intention of manufacturing or providing
the same service and importing the same product or service back
to the United States;
``(3) will not relocate jobs from the United States to
foreign countries during the period of performance of the
contract; and
``(4) will use products substantially manufactured in the
United States and services provided in the United States under
the contract.
``(d) Exception to Certification.--Notwithstanding the requirements
of the certification described under subsection (c), the head of an
agency may except an offeror from any of the requirements if the
exception is fully described and justified and one or more of the
following conditions apply:
``(1) The products are not manufactured in the United
States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial
quantities and are not of satisfactory quality.
``(2) There is an unreasonable cost associated with the use
of products substantially manufactured in the United States or
services provided in the United States.
``(3) The use of products substantially manufactured in the
United States or services provided in the United States would
be inconsistent with the public interest.
``(e) Violation of Certification.--If the head of an agency
determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in
subsection (c), the head of that agency shall terminate the contract
for which the contractor received the preference described in
subsection (a) and the contractor may not receive the preference for a
period of not less than 5 years.
``(f) Report Required.--Not later than November 1 of each year, the
head of an agency shall submit to Congress a report that includes the
names of the contractors that have submitted a false statement or
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in
subsection (c) for the previous fiscal year.
``(g) Applicability to Parent Companies and Subsidiaries.--For
purposes of this section, any prohibition on receiving a preference
under subsection (e) applied with respect to a contractor shall apply
to any subsidiary or parent company of the contractor.''.
(2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 137 of title 10, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 2316 the following new item:
``2317. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States.''.
(c) Revision of Federal Acquisition Regulation.--The Federal
Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to implement the amendment made
by this section.
(d) Effective Date; Applicability.--The amendments made by this
section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and
shall apply with respect to any contract awarded on or after the date
occurring 180 days after such effective date.
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