[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 191 (Wednesday, December 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13322-S13323]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FEINGOLD:
  S. 2890. A bill to amend the Buy American Act to increase the 
requirement for American-made content, to tighten the waiver 
provisions, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to 
help American workers and companies.
  The bill that I am introducing, the Buy American Improvement Act, 
focuses on the Federal Government's responsibility to support domestic 
manufacturers and workers and on the role of Federal procurement policy 
in achieving this goal. The reintroduction of this bill, which I first 
introduced in 2003, is part of my ongoing efforts to support American 
workers and manufacturing.
  The Buy American Act of 1933 is the primary statute that governs 
Federal procurement. The name of this law accurately describes its 
purpose: to ensure that the Federal Government supports domestic 
companies and domestic workers by buying American-made goods. 
Regrettably, this law contains a number of loopholes that make it too 
easy for government agencies to buy foreign-made goods.
  My bill, the Buy American Improvement Act, would strengthen the 
existing law by tightening its waiver provisions. Currently, the heads 
of Federal departments and agencies are given broad discretion to waive 
the act and buy foreign goods with little or no accountability. We 
should ensure that the Federal Government makes every effort to give 
Federal contracts to companies that will perform the work domestically. 
We should also ensure that certain types of industries do not leave the 
U.S. completely, thus making the Federal Government dependent on 
foreign sources for goods, such as plane or ship parts, that our 
military may need to acquire on short notice.
  With unemployed workers in the U.S. facing a double-digit 
unemployment rate, the highest rate since 1983, it is critical Congress 
back efforts to support American workers. Many unemployed American 
workers are currently facing persistently long periods of unemployment; 
data from the Department of Labor showed that in October of this year, 
over 35 percent of unemployed workers had been without jobs for at 
least 27 weeks. Since December of 2007, the number of unemployed 
workers in the U.S. has grown by over 8 million, with manufacturing and 
construction workers being particularly hard-hit. We need to do all we 
can to promote fiscally responsible Federal policies that support the 
creation of American jobs to help get the unemployed and Funderemployed 
back to work. A strong Buy American Act should be part of the Federal 
effort to create and retain American jobs.
  During another period of economic upheaval in the 1930s, Congress 
passed a series of laws designed to promote job growth in the U.S., 
including the Buy American Act of 1933, 41 U.S.C. Sec. 10a-10d. The Buy 
American Act requires the Federal Government to support domestic 
manufacturers and workers by purchasing American-made goods. Over the 
years, other domestic sourcing legislation has been passed to help 
support American industry, including the Buy America Act, 23 U.S.C. 
Sec. 313, which applies to Federal transportation funding. In addition, 
Congress included domestic sourcing requirements in the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act, P.L. 111-5, earlier this year because it 
recognized the importance of supporting American workers and American 
industry. My legislation would help American industry by making it more 
difficult to waive the Buy American Act and help ensure the Federal 
Government does all it can to support American workers.
  I have a long record of supporting efforts to help taxpayers get the 
most bang for their buck and opposing wasteful Federal spending. I 
don't think anyone can argue that supporting American jobs is 
``wasteful.'' We owe it to American manufacturers and their employees 
to make sure they get a fair shake. I would not support awarding a 
contract to an American company that is price-gouging, but we should 
make every effort to ensure that domestic sources for goods needed by 
the Federal Government do not dry up because American companies have 
been slightly underbid by foreign competitors.
  The gaping loopholes in the Buy American Act and the trade agreements 
and defense procurement agreements that contain additional waivers of 
domestic source restrictions have combined to weaken our domestic

[[Page S13323]]

manufacturing base by allowing--and sometimes actually encouraging--the 
Federal Government to buy foreign-made goods. Congress can and should 
do more to support American companies and American workers. We must 
strengthen the Buy American Act and we must stop entering into bad 
trade agreements that send our jobs overseas and undermine our own 
domestic preference laws.
  By strengthening Federal procurement policy, we can help to bolster 
our domestic manufacturers during these difficult times. As I have 
repeatedly noted, Congress cannot simply stand on the sidelines while 
tens of thousands of American manufacturing jobs have been and continue 
to be shipped overseas. While there may be no single solution to this 
problem one way in which Congress should act is by strengthening the 
Buy American Act.
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