I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2664 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a voluntary program under 

which manufacturers may have products certified as meeting the standards of labels that indicate to consumers the extent to which the products 

are manufactured in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2013 

Mr. CARNEY (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a voluntary 

program under which manufacturers may have products 

certified as meeting the standards of labels that indicate 

to consumers the extent to which the products are manufactured in the United States. 

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 ‘‘Made in America Act 

5 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMERICA STAR PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

3 voluntary program, to be known as the ‘‘America Star 

4 Program’’, under which manufacturers may have products 

5 certified as meeting the standards of labels that indicate 

6 to consumers the extent to which the products are manu7 factured in the United States. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF LABELS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by rule 

10 establish such America Star labels as the Secretary 

11 considers appropriate, including the content of the 

12 labels and the standards that a product shall meet 

13 in order to bear a particular America Star label. The 

14 labels shall be consistent with public perceptions of 

15 the meaning of descriptions of the extent to which 

16 a product is manufactured in the United States. 

17 (2) GOALS.—The America Star labels shall be 

18 designed to achieve the following goals: 

19 (A) Providing clarity for consumers about 

20 the extent to which products are manufactured 

21 in the United States. 

22 (B) Encouraging manufacturers to manu23 facture more products in the United States. 

24 (C) Highlighting the importance of domes25 tic manufacturing for the economy of the 

26 United States. 


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1 (c) CERTIFICATION OF PRODUCTS.— 

2 (1) APPLICATION PROCEDURES.—A manufac3 turer that wishes to have a product certified as 

4 meeting the standards of an America Star label may 

5 apply to the Secretary for certification in accordance 

6 with such procedures as the Secretary shall by rule 

7 establish. 

8 (2) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—After receiving an 

9 application for certification under paragraph (1), the 

10 Secretary shall, not later than a reasonable time to 

11 be specified by the Secretary by rule— 

12 (A) determine whether the product meets 

13 the standards of the label; 

14 (B) if the product meets such standards, 

15 certify the product; and 

16 (C) notify the manufacturer of the deter17 mination and whether the product has been cer18 tified. 

19 (d) MONITORING; WITHDRAWAL OF CERTIFI20 CATION.— 

21 (1) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall conduct 

22 such monitoring and compliance review as the Sec23 retary considers necessary to— 

24 (A) detect violations of subsection (h); and 


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1 (B) ensure that products certified as meet2 ing the standards of America Star labels con3 tinue to meet such standards. 

4 (2) WITHDRAWAL OF CERTIFICATION.— 

5 (A) ON INITIATIVE OF SECRETARY.—If the 

6 Secretary determines that a product certified as 

7 meeting the standards of an America Star label 

8 no longer meets such standards, the Secretary 

9 shall— 

10 (i) notify the manufacturer of the de11 termination and any corrective action that 

12 would enable the product to meet such 

13 standards; and 

14 (ii) if the manufacturer does not take 

15 such action within a reasonable time after 

16 receiving notification under clause (i), to 

17 be specified by the Secretary by rule, the 

18 Secretary shall withdraw the certification 

19 of the product and notify the manufacturer 

20 of the withdrawal. 

21 (B) AT REQUEST OF MANUFACTURER.—At 

22 the request of the manufacturer of a product, 

23 the Secretary shall withdraw the certification of 

24 the product and notify the manufacturer of the 

25 withdrawal. 


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1 (e) REGULATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promul3 gate such regulations as are necessary to implement 

4 this section. 

5 (2) DEADLINE.—Not later than 2 years after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary 

8 to begin certifying products under the America Star 

9 Program. 

10 (f) ADMINISTRATION BY CONTRACT.—The Secretary 

11 may enter into a contract with a person under which such 

12 person carries out certification determinations under sub13 section (c), monitoring activities and withdrawal deter14 minations under subsection (d), collection of fees under 

15 subsection (k)(1) and the remission of such fees to the 

16 Secretary (but not the establishment of the amounts of 

17 such fees), and related administrative activities. For pur18 poses of subsections (h) and (j), such a determination, ac19 tivity, or collection by such person shall be considered to 

20 be an action of the Secretary. 

21 (g) CONSULTATION.— 

22 (1) WITH FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.—In 

23 establishing the America Star labels and operating 

24 the America Star Program, the Secretary shall con25 sult with the Federal Trade Commission to ensure 


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1 consistency with the requirements enforced by the 

2 Commission with respect to representations of the 

3 extent to which products are manufactured in the 

4 United States. 

5 (2) WITH PRIVATE-SECTOR COMPANIES.—In es6 tablishing the America Star labels and operating the 

7 America Star Program, the Secretary should consult 

8 with private-sector companies that have developed 

9 labeling programs to verify or certify to consumers 

10 the extent to which products are manufactured in 

11 the United States. 

12 (h) PROHIBITED CONDUCT.—Unless there is in effect 

13 a certification by the Secretary that a product meets the 

14 standards of an America Star label, a person may not 

15 place such label on such product, use such label in any 

16 marketing materials for such product, or in any other way 

17 represent that such product meets or is certified as meet18 ing the standards of such label. 

19 (i) ENFORCEMENT.— 

20 (1) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who know21 ingly violates subsection (h) shall be subject to a 

22 civil penalty of not more than $10,000. 

23 (2) INELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (C), if the Secretary determines 

3 that a manufacturer— 

4 (i) has made a false statement to the 

5 Secretary in connection with the America 

6 Star Program; 

7 (ii) knowing, or having reason to 

8 know, that a product does not meet the 

9 standards of an America Star label, has 

10 placed such label on such product, has 

11 used such label in any marketing materials 

12 for such product, or in any other way has 

13 represented that such product meets or is 

14 certified as meeting the standards of such 

15 label; or 

16 (iii) has otherwise violated the pur17 poses of the America Star Program; 

18 the Secretary may not, for a period of 5 years 

19 after the conduct described in clause (i), (ii), or 

20 (iii), certify the product to which such conduct 

21 relates as meeting the standards of an America 

22 Star label. 

23 (B) EFFECT ON EXISTING CERTIFI24 CATION.—In the case of a product with respect 

25 to which, at the time of the determination of 


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1 the Secretary under subparagraph (A), there is 

2 in effect a certification by the Secretary that 

3 the product meets the standards of an America 

4 Star label— 

5 (i) if the product continues to meet 

6 such standards, the Secretary may either 

7 withdraw the certification or allow the cer8 tification to continue in effect, as the Sec9 retary considers appropriate; and 

10 (ii) if the product no longer meets 

11 such standards, the Secretary shall with12 draw the certification. 

13 (C) WAIVER.—Notwithstanding subpara14 graph (A), the Secretary may waive or reduce 

15 the period referred to in such subparagraph if 

16 the Secretary determines that the waiver or re17 duction is in the best interests of the America 

18 Star Program. 

19 (3) FALSE STATEMENTS.—A false statement in 

20 connection with the America Star Program to a per21 son with whom the Secretary contracts under sub22 section (f) shall be considered a false statement to 

23 the Secretary for purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

24 and section 1001 of title 18, United States Code. 

25 (j) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL.— 


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1 (1) EXPEDITED APPEALS PROCEDURE.—The 

2 Secretary shall establish an expedited administrative 

3 appeals procedure under which persons may appeal 

4 an action of the Secretary under this section that— 

5 (A) adversely affects such person; or 

6 (B) is inconsistent with the America Star 

7 Program. 

8 (2) APPEAL OF FINAL DECISION.—A final deci9 sion of the Secretary under paragraph (1) may be 

10 appealed to the United States district court for the 

11 district in which the person is located. 

12 (k) OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may collect 

14 reasonable fees from— 

15 (A) manufacturers that apply for certifi16 cation of products as meeting the standards of 

17 America Star labels; and 

18 (B) manufacturers of products for which 

19 such certifications are in effect. 

20 (2) ACCOUNT.—The fees collected under para21 graph (1) shall be credited to the account that in22 curs the cost of the certification services provided 

23 under this section. 

24 (3) USE.—The fees collected under paragraph 

25 (1) shall be available to the Secretary, without furVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:49 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2664.IH H2664

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1 ther appropriation or fiscal-year limitation, to pay 

2 the expenses of the Secretary incurred in providing 

3 certification services under this section. 

4 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) AMERICA STAR LABEL.—The term ‘‘Amer6 ica Star label’’ means a label described in subsection 

7 (a) and established by the Secretary under sub8 section (b)(1). 

9 (2) AMERICA STAR PROGRAM.—The term 

10 ‘‘America Star Program’’ means the voluntary label11 ing program established under this section. 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Commerce. 

Æ 


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