I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1193 

To prioritize United States contractors with respect to federally funded 

infrastructure projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. NEHLS (for himself and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 prioritize United States contractors with respect to federally funded infrastructure projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Preferences 

5 for Building America Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRIORITY FOR UNITED STATES CONTRACTORS. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN

8 CONTRACT AWARDEES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts made available 

2 through a program for Federal financial assistance 

3 may be obligated for an infrastructure project with 

4 a value of $100,000,000 or more only if the recipi5 ent of such amounts certifies that, in obligating the 

6 amounts— 

7 (A) subject to the occurrence of adequate 

8 competition, the recipient shall award contracts 

9 only to— 

10 (i) United States persons; and 

11 (ii) qualified United States joint ven12 tures; and 

13 (B) the recipient shall not award contracts 

14 to an entity that is owned or controlled by, is 

15 a subsidiary of, or is otherwise related legally or 

16 financially to a corporation based in a covered 

17 country. 

18 (2) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of paragraph 

19 (1)(B), the term ‘‘otherwise related legally or finan20 cially’’ does not include a minority relationship or in21 vestment. 

22 (b) LIMITATION ON SUBCONTRACTING.—With re23 spect to a project described in subsection (a)(1) that is 

24 funded in whole or in part by Federal financial assistance, 

25 a prime contractor and any subcontractor of such prime 


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1 contractor, at any tier, may enter into a subcontract re2 lated to such project only with a United States person or 

3 qualified United States joint venture. 

4 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the 

6 Office of Management and Budget shall establish, for pur7 poses of this section— 

8 (1) procedures for determining whether bids or 

9 proposals for contracts are submitted by a United 

10 States person or a qualified United States joint ven11 ture; and 

12 (2) requirements for record retention and re13 porting. 

14 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall be construed to limit a recipient of Federal fi16 nancial assistance from awarding a contract under a State 

17 or Federal program that supports disadvantaged business 

18 enterprises, including such a program that supports 

19 women business owners or minority business owners. 

20 (e) CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE21 MENTS.—This section shall be applied in a manner con22 sistent with United States obligations under international 

23 agreements. 

24 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADEQUATE COMPETITION.—The term ‘‘ade2 quate competition’’ means the submission of respon3 sive bids from 2 or more qualified bidders that are 

4 United States persons or qualified United States 

5 joint ventures. 

6 (2) COVERED COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘covered 

7 country’’ means a country that— 

8 (A) is identified, as of the date of the en9 actment of this section, as a nonmarket econ10 omy country (as defined in section 771(18) of 

11 the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18))); 

12 (B) was identified by the United States 

13 Trade Representative in the most recent report 

14 required by section 182 of the Trade Act of 

15 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242) as a foreign country in16 cluded on the priority watch list defined in sub17 section (g)(3) of that section; and 

18 (C) is subject to monitoring by the Trade 

19 Representative under section 306 of the Trade 

20 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416). 

21 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY; FEDERAL FINANCIAL

22 ASSISTANCE; INFRASTRUCTURE; PROJECT.—The 

23 terms ‘‘Federal agency’’, ‘‘Federal financial assist24 ance’’, ‘‘infrastructure’’, and ‘‘project’’ have the 

25 meanings given such terms in section 70912 of the 


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1 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (41 U.S.C. 

2 8301 note). 

3 (4) QUALIFIED UNITED STATES JOINT VEN4 TURE.—The term ‘‘qualified United States joint ven5 ture’’ means a joint venture in which not less than 

6 51 percent of the assets of the joint venture are 

7 owned by United States persons. 

8 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

9 ‘‘United States person’’ means a person that— 

10 (A) is incorporated or legally organized 

11 under the laws of the United States or a juris12 diction located within the United States and 

13 has been so incorporated or organized for not 

14 less than 5 years before the date on which an 

15 invitation is issued for bids or proposals with 

16 respect to the relevant contract; 

17 (B) has its principal place of business in 

18 the United States; 

19 (C) has previously performed services with20 in the United States that are similar in com21 plexity and type to the services required for the 

22 relevant contract; 

23 (D) has within the United States the tech24 nical and financial resources necessary to per25 form the relevant contract; and 


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1 (E) employs individuals who are citizens or 

2 residents of the United States in not less than 

3 51 percent of— 

4 (i) the principal management posi5 tions located in the United States; 

6 (ii) the permanent, full-time positions 

7 located in the United States; and 

8 (iii) the supervisory positions located 

9 in the United States. 

10 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 

11 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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