[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SHOULD PURCHASE FREE WEIGHT STRENGTH TRAINING 
    EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES, NOT COMMUNIST CHINA

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                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 10, 1999

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, the United States has long been the leader 
in manufacturing. Our ingenuity and efficiency drove our economy from a 
largely agrarian society to the bustling industrial powerhouse that it 
is today. However, over the years, many foreign countries with 
government controlled economies have steadily cut into our markets 
because their subsidized products clearly have an economic advantage in 
our open markets.
  While I applaud efforts of the United States government to level the 
playing field by controlling the flood of subsidized imports, I cannot 
condone the actions by our government that facilitate the continued 
import of these cheap products. I encountered these troubles during the 
103rd Congress when I shepherded legislation through the Congress 
requiring the U.S. Coast Guard to purchase buoy chain manufactured in 
the United States because an overabundance of their purchases relied on 
foreign sources. Today, a similar problem is occurring when the 
Department of Defense purchases free weight strength training 
equipment.
  Despite having quality, domestically manufactured products available 
to provide our troops, various installations of the United States Armed 
Services are purchasing free weight strength training equipment 
manufactured in foreign countries, predominantly in the Peoples 
Republic of China. As a result, many of our troops are training with 
equipment that not only is manufactured by a Communist government that 
has worked to undermine the national security of the United States, but 
also may be manufactured with slave labor.
  These cheap, lower-grade Chinese products are imported by American 
fitness companies and sold to our government under domestic labels at 
the expense of our domestic manufacturers. Consequently, American 
producers have suffered.
  Buy American legislation was enacted to protect our domestic labor 
market by providing a preference for American goods in government 
purchases. This Act is critical to protecting the market share of our 
domestic producers from foreign government-subsidized manufacturers. 
However, the Buy American Act is not always obeyed.
  According to an audit conducted last year by the Inspector General of 
the Department of Defense, an astonishing 59 percent of the contracts 
procuring military clothing and related items did not include the 
appropriate clause to implement the Buy American Act. This troubles me 
because many of our domestic producers are the ones that suffer.
  Despite this audit and the subsequent instruction by the Defense 
Department to its procurement officials that the Buy American Act must 
be adhered to, to date, at least five defense installations provide 
predominantly foreign made free weight products for their personnel to 
weight train. Unfortunately, I believe this may signify a trend in 
purchases of foreign manufactured free weights under the Department of 
Defense.
  For this reason, I tried offering an amendment that would prohibit 
the Secretary of Defense from procuring free weight equipment used by 
our troops for strength training and conditioning if those weights were 
not domestically manufactured. Unfortunately, the Rules Committee did 
not rule this amendment in order.
  As a result, I offered a second amendment that would require the 
Inspector General to further investigate the Defense Department's 
compliance with purchases of the Buy American Act for free weight 
strength training equipment. However, I think it is important to note 
that while this approach could successfully highlight the problem, it 
would only delay the process, thereby, further punishing our domestic 
producers.
  No one can argue that the physical fitness of our troops is vital. It 
is well known in the Pentagon that when you're physically fit, you're 
also mentally prepared for any conflict. It is the cornerstone of 
readiness. In fact, a recent survey of nearly 1,000 Marine Corps Times, 
cited fitness as the number one program offered under the Morale, 
Welfare and Recreation program.
  In addition, the importance of using free weights to train our 
military cannot be understated. The Marine Corps Times article further 
demonstrated the need for free weights by explaining that access to 
free weights was the number one requested activity by deployed units 
and the second most popular request by units about to be deployed; 
second only to E-mail access. Clearly, the demand for free weights is 
present.
  However, the fact that some of our troops use Chinese manufactured 
weights when a higher quality domestic product is available, I find 
remarkable.
  Although the Department of Defense may have taken steps to curb Buy 
American Act procurement abuses in the aftermath of the Inspector 
General's report on clothing procurement, I am concerned that 
widespread abuses of foreign free weight procurements may continue 
unless Congress acts to end this practice.
  I believe Congress needs to protect our domestic interests by 
ensuring that U.S. manufacturers are insulated from cheap imports being 
sold to the United States government, and that our troops train with a 
high quality product manufactured in the United States, not Communist 
China. Accordingly, it is my intention to prohibit our military from 
spending U.S. tax dollars on free weight strength training products 
that are produced by a Communist government that has little respect for 
our national security and human rights.

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