I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8785 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a committee to evaluate 

the manufacturing capacity for products and industries that are crucial 

to the resilience of the United States during national emergencies or 

severe disruptions in global trade, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself and Mr. LAMB) 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 committee to evaluate the manufacturing capacity for products and industries that are crucial to the resilience 

of the United States during national emergencies or severe disruptions in global trade, 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 ‘‘Building Back Amer5 ican Manufacturing Act’’ or ‘‘B–BAM Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMITTEE ON BUILDING BACK AMERICAN MANU2 FACTURING. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

5 of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of De6 fense and the Secretary of Labor, shall establish an advi7 sory committee to be known as the Committee on Building 

8 Back American Manufacturing (in this section referred to 

9 as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be 

12 composed of the following: 

13 (A) The Secretary of Defense, or the Sec14 retary’s designee. 

15 (B) The Secretary of Commerce, or the 

16 Secretary’s designee. 

17 (C) The Secretary of Labor, or the Sec18 retary’s designee. 

19 (D) The Secretary of Health and Human 

20 Services, or the Secretary’s designee. 

21 (E) The Secretary of Homeland Security, 

22 or the Secretary’s designee. 

23 (F) The Secretary of Transportation, or 

24 the Secretary’s designee. 

25 (G) The Secretary of the Treasury, or the 

26 Secretary’s designee. 


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1 (H) The Secretary of Energy, or the Sec2 retary’s designee. 

3 (I) The Administrator of the Small Busi4 ness Administration, or the Administrator’s 

5 designee. 

6 (J) The Chairman of the Federal Trade 

7 Commission, or the Chairman’s designee. 

8 (K) Two members who represent organized 

9 labor, to be selected and appointed by the 

10 Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotia11 tions and Trade Policy. 

12 (L) Two members each, appointed by— 

13 (i) the Speaker of the House of Rep14 resentatives; 

15 (ii) the minority leader of the House 

16 of Representatives; 

17 (iii) the majority leader of the Senate; 

18 (iv) the minority leader of the Senate; 

19 and 

20 (v) the President of the United 

21 States. 

22 (M) The head of any other agency or a 

23 designee as determined by the Secretary of 

24 Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of 

25 Defense and the Secretary of Labor. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Of the 10 members ap2 pointed under paragraph (1)(L), the members shall 

3 be comprised of the following: 

4 (A) Individuals with expertise in private in5 dustry. 

6 (B) Individuals with experience working 

7 with State and local governments. 

8 (C) Academics and those with research ex9 perience in this field. 

10 (D) Members of a trade group or associa11 tion. 

12 (c) DUTIES.—The Committee shall carry out the fol13 lowing duties: 

14 (1) Review and report on the strength, integ15 rity, and capacity of the manufacturing base of the 

16 United States and supply chain for crucial, strategic 

17 resources and products in the United States as iden18 tified by the Committee, including— 

19 (A) identifying strategic resources that are 

20 obtained or purchased from a foreign person or 

21 imported into the United States; 

22 (B) reporting on the benefits of increasing 

23 production of strategic resources identified 

24 under subparagraph (A) in the United States; 


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1 (C) identifying single-point-of-failure, 

2 vulnerabilities, or areas where there is a threat 

3 of disruption in the distribution and supply 

4 chain of strategic resources and ways to diver5 sify manufacturing and supply chains; and 

6 (D) assessing workforce readiness and the 

7 availability of high-skilled labor. 

8 (2) Develop proposals to diversify production 

9 lines within the United States, including— 

10 (A) the potential benefits of various tax 

11 credits; 

12 (B) long-term and low-interest rates loans; 

13 (C) grants; 

14 (D) investments in workforce development; 

15 (E) research and technology sharing agree16 ments; and 

17 (F) any other proposals that support and 

18 attract investment in manufacturing in the 

19 United States. 

20 (3) Consider methods to increase consumer 

21 awareness of products made in the United States 

22 and the benefits the purchase of these products has 

23 on communities and workers, including— 


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1 (A) strengthening the enforcement of 

2 ‘‘Made in U.S.A.’’ claims by the Federal Trade 

3 Commission; and 

4 (B) improving the information that retail5 ers provide to consumers on the country of ori6 gin of products, including those for online sales. 

7 (4) Recommend policy proposals to improve 

8 production and acquisition of materials and products 

9 in the United States that have been identified by the 

10 Committee to be critical products and supplies where 

11 access can be severely limited in the event of global 

12 supply chain disruption. 

13 (5) Determine resulting workforce needs to im14 prove the production and acquisition of such mate15 rials and products in the United States. 

16 (6) Review ways to disseminate best practices, 

17 technical expertise, funding, or financing opportuni18 ties, and foster industry collaborations that improve 

19 the competitiveness of manufacturers in the United 

20 States. 

21 (7) Review existing domestic content policies 

22 and report on the following: 

23 (A) Ways to improve compliance with the 

24 policy or policies. 


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1 (B) The processes and considerations for 

2 granting waivers under law. 

3 (C) Identify programs, materials, and 

4 products not currently covered by applicable 

5 United States preference laws and regulations. 

6 (D) Provide recommendations to extend 

7 similar provisions that would increase the use of 

8 goods sourced, manufactured, or assembled in 

9 the United States to programs, materials, and 

10 products according to subparagraph (C). 

11 (d) CRITICAL PRODUCTS AND SUPPLIES.—The Com12 mittee shall identify products and industries to be further 

13 developed that are critical for United States national and 

14 economic interests, including— 

15 (1) defense war-time production; 

16 (2) materials and products for construction and 

17 infrastructure projects; 

18 (3) raw materials and supplies required for the 

19 production of technology that the Committee deter20 mines is critical; and 

21 (4) products and materials needed to respond to 

22 a pandemic or other global health crisis. 

23 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

24 on which the Committee is established, and every 2 years 


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1 thereafter for 4 years, the Committee shall submit to Con2 gress a report— 

3 (1) that details the findings of the Committee 

4 and include recommendations for policies and ac5 tions to improve manufacturing independence in the 

6 United States for products that the Committee has 

7 determined are critical to meet identified targets; 

8 and 

9 (2) that details how to strengthen the require10 ments for United States content under section 313 

11 of title 23, United States Code, or chapter 83 of 

12 title 41, United States Code (commonly referred to 

13 as the Buy American Act). 

14 (f) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 

15 on the date on which the final report is submitted pursu16 ant to subsection (e). 

Æ 


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