[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006

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                               speech of

                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1815) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2006 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2006, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Hunter, Chairman of the House 
Armed Services Committee, for including my amendment in the en bloc 
package.
  It is the intent of Congress and in the interest of national security 
that we maintain a strong and healthy industrial base if we are to 
remain the strongest nation on Earth. Even the founder of modern-day 
capitalism and free trade, Adam Smith, recognized the need for a nation 
to be able to depend upon its own industrial and agricultural base and 
not rely on foreign sources for its defense needs. We cannot maintain 
our role as global leader on a pure services-based economy.
  This amendment strengthens the Buy American Act, BAA, by restoring 
the original intent that more than 50 percent of the components in end 
products purchased by the Department of Defense shall be mined, 
produced, or manufactured inside the United States.
  The Buy American Act originally passed Congress during the Great 
Depression. The intent of Congress was that to qualify under the Buy 
American Act, a company had to have substantially all of a product 
made, grown, or mined in the United States. However, regulations 
implementing the Buy American Act have subsequently redefined 
``substantially all'' to mean simply greater than 50 percent.
  Yet even that regulation has been weakened even further over the 
years. The Pentagon has used the ``public interest'' exception to waive 
the Buy American Act to treat the purchase of some foreign goods as if 
they were made in America. The original intent of the Buy American Act 
has been undermined by procurement memoranda of understanding, MOU, and 
other agreements with various foreign countries that permit the 
substitution of foreign components for components mined, produced, or 
manufactured inside the United States. These are not treaties or trade 
agreements approved by Congress--these were Executive Branch agreements 
not subject to review by Congress.
  Thus, the Buy American laws are basically worthless. There are so 
many holes in the law that it means nothing when a company says they 
comply with the Buy American Act. The exception--and it's a big one--is 
that the domestic content requirement doesn't have to be met if the 
items are procured from certain designated countries.
  The Pentagon has MOUs with 21 developed countries that waive the Buy 
American Act because the Defense Department has determined that, for 
these countries, complying with the BAA is ``inconsistent with the 
public interest.'' Basically, a company getting an award from the 
Pentagon can claim compliance with the Buy American Act without having 
to actually make anything here, as long as the components come from one 
of the 21 countries.
  Too often, agencies claim they need the best for the least, implying 
that Americans can't make the best or compete on price and quality. But 
``best value'' is the standard, which means price shouldn't be the 
reigning factor. The best value for Americans is to have a strong 
industrial base and we can't do that if DOD forces U.S. companies to 
compete on price with foreign companies that are owned, subsidized, or 
controlled by their governments.
  It is important to remember that this amendment does not increase the 
share of the Buy American content, but simply codifies the content 
percentage of what is in existing regulation.

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