[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 146 (Monday, October 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H10731-H10733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1415
                    MADE IN AMERICA INFORMATION ACT

  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 754) to establish a toll free number under the Federal Trade 
Commission to assist consumers in determining if products are American-
made, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 754

       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 ``Made in America Information 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL FREE NUMBER PILOT PROGRAM.

       (a) Establishment.--If the Secretary of Commerce 
     determines, on the basis of comments submitted in rulemaking 
     under section 3, that--
       (1) interest among manufacturers is sufficient to warrant 
     the establishment of a 3-year toll free number pilot program, 
     and
       (2) manufacturers will provide fees under section 3(c) so 
     that the program will operate without cost to the Federal 
     Government,

     the Secretary shall establish such program solely to help 
     inform consumers whether a product is ``Made in America''. 
     The Secretary shall publish the toll-free number by notice in 
     the Federal Register.
       (b) Contract.--The Secretary of Commerce shall enter into a 
     contract for--
       (1) the establishment and operation of the toll free number 
     pilot program provided for in subsection (a), and
       (2) the registration of products pursuant to regulations 
     issued under section 3,
     which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under 
     section 3(c).
       (c) Use.--The toll free number shall be used solely to 
     inform consumers as to whether products are registered under 
     section 3 as ``Made in America''. Consumers shall also be 
     informed that registration of a product does not mean--
       (1) that the product is endorsed or approved by the 
     Government,
       (2) that the Secretary has conducted any investigation to 
     confirm that the product is a product which meets the 
     definition of ``Made in America'' in section 5 of this Act, 
     or
       (3) that the product contains 100 percent United States 
     content.

     SEC. 3. REGISTRATION.

       (a) Proposed Regulation.--The Secretary of Commerce shall 
     propose a regulation--
       (1) to establish a procedure under which the manufacturer 
     of a product may voluntarily register such product as 
     complying with the definition of ``Made in America'' in 
     section 5 of this Act and have such product included in the 
     information available through the toll free number 
     established under section 2(a);
       (2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to cover all 
     the costs (including start-up costs) of registering products 
     and including registered products in information provided 
     under the toll-free number;
       (3) for the establishment under section 2(a) of the toll-
     free number pilot program; and
       (4) to solicit views from the private sector concerning the 
     level of interest of manufacturers in registering products 
     under the terms and conditions of paragraph (1).
       (b) Promulgation.--If the Secretary determines based on the 
     comments on the regulation proposed under subsection (a) that 
     the toll-free number pilot program and the registration of 
     products is warranted, the Secretary shall promulgate such 
     regulation.
       (c) Registration Fee.--
       (1) In general.--Manufacturers of products included in 
     information provided under section 2 shall be subject to a 
     fee imposed by the Secretary of Commerce to pay the cost of 
     registering products and including them in information 
     provided under subsection (a).
       (2) Amount.--The amount of fees imposed under paragraph (1) 
     shall--
       (A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be greater than the 
     cost of registering the manufacturer's product and providing 
     product information directly attributable to such 
     manufacturer, and
       (B) in the case of the total amount of fees, not be greater 
     than the total amount appropriated to the Secretary of 
     Commerce for salaries and expenses directly attributable to 
     registration of manufacturers and having products included in 
     the information provided under section 2(a).
       (3) Crediting and availability of fees.--
       (A) In general.--Fees collected for a fiscal year pursuant 
     to paragraph (1) shall be credited to the appropriation 
     account for salaries and expenses of the Secretary of 
     Commerce and shall be available in accordance with 
     appropriation Acts until expended without fiscal year 
     limitation.
       (B) Collections and appropriation acts.--The fees imposed 
     under paragraph (1)--

[[Page H10732]]

       (i) shall be collected in each fiscal year in an amount 
     equal to the amount specified in appropriation Acts for such 
     fiscal year, and
       (ii) shall only be collected and available for the costs 
     described in paragraph (2).

     SEC. 4. PENALTY.

       Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly registers a 
     product under section 3 which is not ``Made in America''--
       (1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than 
     $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce may assess and collect, 
     and
       (2) shall not offer such product for purchase by the 
     Federal Government.

     SEC. 5. DEFINITION.

       For purposes of this Act:
       (1) The term ``Made in America'' has the meaning given 
     unqualified ``Made in U.S.A.'' or ``Made in America'' claims 
     for purposes of laws administered by the Federal Trade 
     Commission.
       (2) The term ``product'' means a product with a retail 
     value of at least $250.

     SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

       Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated under 
     section 3 shall be construed to alter, amend, modify, or 
     otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Commission Act 
     or the opinions, decisions, rules, or any guidance issued by 
     the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use of unqualified 
     ``Made in U.S.A.'' or ``Made in America'' claims in labels on 
     products introduced, delivered for introduction, sold, 
     advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Goodlatte). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Brown) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H.R. 754, and to insert extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  I am pleased today to rise in support of H.R. 754, the Made in 
America Information Act. The bill's sponsor, the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Traficant), should be commended for his commitment to American 
products and the American worker. This bill is a fitting tribute to 
that commitment.
  The legislation is designed to assist consumers when they are 
thinking about purchasing a major appliance or other product. For 
instance, a family looking for a new refrigerator could call the number 
to find out which brands and models of refrigerators are manufactured 
in the United States. Consumers have consistently demonstrated their 
desire to purchase products made in America, and I believe that if this 
information is provided, they will use this as another major factor in 
their purchasing decisions.
  An important feature of this legislation is that the creation of the 
service is conditional both on market demand and the presence of 
private sector funding. This toll-free number will only be implemented 
if there is sufficient interest on the part of manufacturers in listing 
their products and funding the cost of the program through annual fees. 
Thus, there is no cost to the taxpayer for implementing this program to 
promote American-made products.
  As my colleagues know, the House has passed this bill on a number of 
previous occasions, but the other body has repeatedly failed to act. 
The bill before the House today is essentially the same bill passed by 
the House during the 105th Congress, and I hope that the other body 
will take this opportunity to send this important measure to the 
President. This legislation, as reported by the Committee on Commerce, 
creates a much-needed consumer service, and I urge all my colleagues to 
support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 754, the Made in 
America Information Act. This legislation, introduced by my colleague, 
the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), is an important step in 
reversing the damage that unfairly priced imports are wreaking on 
workers and small businesses in this country. It is supported by three 
of my Democratic colleagues on the Committee on Commerce as cosponsors, 
the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Barrett), the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone), and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).
  Mr. Speaker, regardless of what mainstream economists say, regardless 
of what the media and talk show hosts say, the fact is there is no 
greater long-term threat to our economic prosperity than our ballooning 
trade deficit. Just ask the millions of American workers and small 
businesses that every month are being asked to compete against billions 
of dollars of goods that roll onto our shores, many of them made in 
places where trying to form a union or fight for environmental 
standards will land a person in jail.
  In other cases, some of our workers and small businesses are 
competing against goods that masquerade as American made, especially 
those from Saipan, where we know that U.S. corporations exploit tens of 
thousands of, mostly, young women, and most with families in China, and 
force them to make garments for pennies an hour. We know this happens 
because of the efforts of their employers on Wall Street and their 
political allies here in Washington who continue to block our efforts 
to even give those very young women the minimum wage or provide the 
working conditions that we give to American teenagers working at a 
McDonald's.
  Mr. Speaker, the premise behind H.R. 754 is very simple. It requires 
the Commerce Department to establish a toll-free telephone hot line to 
give the American public, the men and women who vote and pay our 
salaries, help in determining if the products they are buying are, in 
fact, made by American workers. This hot line will take the guesswork 
out of whether or not a product that claims to be made in America is 
really made here or, conversely, assembled in a sweat shop in Saipan or 
somewhere else. Only those products that meet the Federal Trade 
Commission standard for making a claim that its product is made in the 
USA are eligible to be listed on the registry, which the Commerce 
Department will use to identify American-made products for consumers.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also note that, except for minor differences, 
H.R. 754 is the same legislation that has passed this Congress in each 
of the last three sessions. Unfortunately, the other body has never 
taken action on it, and the bill has not been enacted. I sincerely hope 
that will not be the situation in this Congress and that the bill 
finally can be enacted into law.
  Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Traficant) for this legislation and urge my colleagues to support H.R. 
754 and stop sacrificing fair trade on the alter of free trade.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), the author of the bill.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished 
chairman, who has done a great job, and I appreciate his helping me on 
this with all the other issues he has before him on his powerful 
committee. I also want to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Brown), who has worked hard on so many issues on commerce and 
education.
  This is an unusual bill. Both the chairman and the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Brown) have mentioned the fact that we have passed it before. 
I am a little bit frustrated. I would like to talk briefly about that 
frustration and then talk about mitigating that frustration by the 
actions of our consumers.
  The Congress of the United States has moved in a trade program, in my 
opinion, that is very flawed. It has produced a negative balance of 
payments over $300 billion now, and we are now talking about $330 
billion next year as a trade deficit for 1 year, which will be a new 
record. In the last 3 months, an $81 billion trade deficit. Think about 
that.
  China is now taking $7 billion a month out of America. Nearly 
everything our consumers buy is made in China. If China's is better, 
fine. But China is not opening up the doors to Uncle Sam. And while we 
wait for all of these legislative gurus to fashion some remedy, I think 
it is time to give the American people information and give the 
consuming public an opportunity

[[Page H10733]]

to at least be conscientious about American-made goods.
  What this bill says is this: ``Look, if you are buying a refrigerator 
in Chicago, you can call that 1-800 hot line and say, what 
refrigerators, if any, are still made in the United States of 
America.'' And then they would give that inquiring consumer a list. And 
maybe when they go out to buy, they would say to the retailer, ``Do you 
have one of these refrigerators on sale? We would like to price them. 
We would like to look at their quality in comparison to the foreign-
made product.''
  It is not a sophisticated program, for sure. It is not paid for by 
the taxpayers. It is paid for by the companies, whom I hope would be 
proud of still being in America and making and building a product in 
America. I think it is a straightforward bill.
  I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley). He has a 
tremendous amount of important issues right now facing his committee, 
but he has always taken the time to give each and every Member an 
opportunity to appeal to that committee, and I also thank my 
neighboring colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).
  Mr. Speaker, I would appreciate the support, overwhelming support, on 
this bill.
  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 754, the 
Made in America Information Act, Introduced by Representative Traficant 
of Ohio.
  This important piece of legislation establishes a toll-free hotline 
consumers can call to determine if a product is ``Made in America.''
  The self-financed hotline established by H.R. 754 applies to those 
products with a sale price of over $250, and the bill imposes a fine of 
up to $7,500 on any manufacturer who falsely registers a product as 
``Made in America.''
  The Made in America Act has passed the House the last three 
Congresses, and enjoys strong bipartisan support.
  Many Americans want to ``Buy America,'' and we have an obligation to 
provide consumers with the information they need to make informed 
choices about how to spend their money.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a win-win proposition, and I strongly urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support passage of the Made in 
America Information Act.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BLILEY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 754, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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