Union Calendar No. 399

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 447

[Report No. 104–753]

A BILL

To establish a toll free number in the Department

if products are American-made.of Commerce to assist consumers in determining

AUGUST 2, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 399

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 447

[Report No. 104–753]

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Commerce to assist

consumers in determining if products are American-made.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 9, 1995

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

AUGUST 2, 1996

Additional sponsors: Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. HUNTER, Mr.

BROWN of Ohio, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. SABO, Mr. FROST, Mr. BARRETT of

Wisconsin, Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. BREWSTER, Mr. PARKER,

Ms. PELOSI, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. GUNDERSON, Mr.

MOAKLEY, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mr. WILSON, Mr. JOHNSON of South

Dakota, Mr. EVANS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. CHAPMAN, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr.

MCHUGH, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BLUTE, Mr.

KANJORSKI, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. HAYES, Mr. BRYANT of Texas, Mr.

VENTO, Mr. HOLDEN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. JACOBS, Mrs.

MEEK of Florida, Mr. REGULA, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. EMERSON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr.

TORRES, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms.

MCKINNEY, Mr. MINETA, Mr. OWENS, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. BACHUS, Mr.

QUINN, Mr. WYNN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr.

UNDERWOOD, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. FARR of California, Mr.

SOLOMON, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. COLEMAN, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr.

NEY, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida,

Mr. KLINK, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr.

ENGEL, Mr. CLINGER, Mr. FRAZER, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr. ACKERMAN,

Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. THORNTON,

Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Ms. DELAURO,

Mr. ANDREWS, and Mr. GILLMOR.
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AUGUST 2, 1996

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 9, 1995]

A BILL

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Commerce to assist consumers in determining if products

are American-made.

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

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL FREE NUMBER

4 PILOT PROGRAM.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If the Secretary of Commerce

6 determines, on the basis of comments submitted in rule7 making under section 2, that—

8 (1) interest among manufacturers is sufficient to

9 warrant the establishment of a 3-year toll free number

10 pilot program, and

11 (2) manufacturers will provide fees under section

12 2(c) so that the program will operate without cost to

13 the Federal Government,

14 the Secretary shall establish such program solely to help in15 form consumers whether a product is made in America or
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1 the equivalent thereof. The Secretary shall publish the toll2 free number by notice in the Federal Register.

3 (b) CONTRACT.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

4 enter into a contract for—

5 (1) the establishment and operation of the toll

6 free number pilot program provided for in subsection

7 (a), and

8 (2) the registration of products pursuant to regu9 lations issued under section 2,

10 which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under sec11 tion 2(c).

12 (c) USE.—The toll free number shall be used solely to

13 inform consumers as to whether products are registered

14 under section 2 as made in America or the equivalent there15 of. Consumers shall also be informed that registration of

16 a product does not mean—

17 (1) that the product is endorsed or approved by

18 the Government,

19 (2) that the Secretary has conducted any inves20 tigation to confirm that the product is a product

21 which meets the definition of made in America or the

22 equivalent thereof, or

23 (3) that the product contains 100 percent United

24 States content.
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1 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION.

2 (a) PROPOSED REGULATION.—The Secretary of Com3 merce shall propose a regulation—

4 (1) to establish a procedure under which the

5 manufacturer of a product may voluntarily register

6 such product as complying with the definition of a

7 product made in America or the equivalent thereof

8 and have such product included in the information

9 available through the toll free number established

10 under section 1(a);

11 (2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to cover

12 all the costs (including start-up costs) of registering

13 products and including registered products in infor14 mation provided under the toll-free number;

15 (3) for the establishment under section 1(a) of

16 the toll-free number pilot program; and

17 (4) to solicit views from the private sector con18 cerning the level of interest of manufacturers in reg19 istering products under the terms and conditions of

20 paragraph (1).

21 (b) PROMULGATION.—If the Secretary determines

22 based on the comments on the regulation proposed under

23 subsection (a) that the toll-free number pilot program and

24 the registration of products is warranted, the Secretary

25 shall promulgate such regulations.

26 (c) REGISTRATION FEE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Manufacturers of products in2 cluded in information provided under section 1 shall

3 be subject to a fee imposed by the Secretary of Com4 merce to pay the cost of registering products and in5 cluding them in information provided under sub6 section (a).

7 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of fees imposed under

8 paragraph (1) shall—

9 (A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be

10 greater than the cost of registering the manufac11 turer’s product and providing product informa12 tion directly attributable to such manufacturer,

13 and

14 (B) in the case of the total amount of fees,

15 not be greater than the total amount appro16 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for salaries

17 and expenses directly attributable to registration

18 of manufacturers and having products included

19 in the information provided under section 1(a).

20 (3) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Fees collected for a fiscal

22 year pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be credited

23 to the appropriation account for salaries and ex24 penses of the Secretary of Commerce and shall be
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1 available in accordance with appropriation Acts

2 until expended without fiscal year limitation.

3 (B) COLLECTIONS AND APPROPRIATION

4 ACTS.—The fees imposed under paragraph (1)—

5 (i) shall be collected in each fiscal year

6 in an amount equal to the amount specified

7 in appropriation Acts for such fiscal year,

8 and

9 (ii) shall only be collected and avail10 able for the costs described in paragraph

11 (2).

12 SEC. 3. PENALTY.

13 Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly reg14 isters a product under section 2 which is not made in Amer15 ica or the equivalent thereof—

16 (1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more

17 than $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce may as18 sess and collect, and

19 (2) shall not offer such product for purchase by

20 the Federal Government.

21 SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

22 For purposes of this Act:

23 (1) The term ‘‘made in America or the equiva24 lent thereof’’, with respect to a product, has the mean-
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1 ing given such term for purposes of laws administered

2 by the Federal Trade Commission.

3 (2) The term ‘‘product’’ means a product with a

4 retail value of at least $250.

5 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

6 Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated

7 under section 2 shall be construed to alter, amend, modify,

8 or otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Commis9 sion Act or the opinions, decisions, rules, or any guidance

10 issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use

11 of the term ‘‘made in America or the equivalent thereof’’

12 in labels on products introduced, delivered for introduction,

13 sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.