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Union Calendar No. 435

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 563

[Report No. 105–759]

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

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

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

Committee on Commerce

OCTOBER 1, 1998

Additional sponsors: Mr. DOYLE, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN

of Ohio, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. NEY, Mr. HERGER, Mr. FROST, Mr. FILNER,

Mr. EVANS, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. LEWIS of

Georgia, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. COBURN, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MCGOVERN,

Mr. BEREUTER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. FORBES, Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. BARCIA, Mrs. MYRICK, and Ms. CARSON

OCTOBER 1, 1998

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 February 4, 1997]

A BILL

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Com-
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merce 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’’.

16 The Secretary shall publish the toll-free number by notice

17 in the Federal Register.

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

19 enter into a contract for—

20 (1) the establishment and operation of the toll

21 free number pilot program provided for in subsection

22 (a), and

23 (2) the registration of products pursuant to regu24 lations issued under section 2,
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1 which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under sec2 tion 2(c).

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

4 inform consumers as to whether products are registered

5 under section 2 as ‘‘Made in America’’. Consumers shall

6 also be informed that registration of a product does not

7 mean—

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

9 the Government,

10 (2) that the Secretary has conducted any inves11 tigation to confirm that the product is a product

12 which meets the definition of ‘‘Made in America’’ in

13 section 4 of this Act, or

14 (3) that the product contains 100 percent United

15 States content.

16 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION.

17 (a) PROPOSED REGULATION.—The Secretary of Com18 merce shall propose a regulation—

19 (1) to establish a procedure under which the

20 manufacturer of a product may voluntarily register

21 such product as complying with the definition of

22 ‘‘Made in America’’ in section 4 of this Act and have

23 such product included in the information available

24 through the toll free number established under section

25 1(a);
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1 (2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to cover

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

3 products and including registered products in infor4 mation provided under the toll-free number;

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

6 the toll-free number pilot program; and

7 (4) to solicit views from the private sector con8 cerning the level of interest of manufacturers in reg9 istering products under the terms and conditions of

10 paragraph (1).

11 (b) PROMULGATION.—If the Secretary determines

12 based on the comments on the regulation proposed under

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

14 the registration of products is warranted, the Secretary

15 shall promulgate such regulation.

16 (c) REGISTRATION FEE.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Manufacturers of products in18 cluded in information provided under section 1 shall

19 be subject to a fee imposed by the Secretary of Com20 merce to pay the cost of registering products and in21 cluding them in information provided under sub22 section (a).

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

24 paragraph (1) shall—
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1 (A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be

2 greater than the cost of registering the manufac3 turer’s product and providing product informa4 tion directly attributable to such manufacturer,

5 and

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

7 not be greater than the total amount appro8 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for salaries

9 and expenses directly attributable to registration

10 of manufacturers and having products included

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

12 (3) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—

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

14 year pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be credited

15 to the appropriation account for salaries and ex16 penses of the Secretary of Commerce and shall be

17 available in accordance with appropriation Acts

18 until expended without fiscal year limitation.

19 (B) COLLECTIONS AND APPROPRIATION

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

21 (i) shall be collected in each fiscal year

22 in an amount equal to the amount specified

23 in appropriation Acts for such fiscal year,

24 and
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1 (ii) shall only be collected and avail2 able for the costs described in paragraph

3 (2).

4 SEC. 3. PENALTY.

5 Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly reg6 isters a product under section 2 which is not ‘‘Made in

7 America’’—

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

9 than $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce may as10 sess and collect, and

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

12 the Federal Government.

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

14 For purposes of this Act:

15 (1) The term ‘‘Made in America’’ has the mean16 ing given unqualified ‘‘Made in U.S.A.’’ or ‘‘Made in

17 America’’ claims for purposes of laws administered by

18 the Federal Trade Commission.

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

20 retail value of at least $250.

21 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

22 Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated

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

24 or otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Commis25 sion Act or the opinions, decisions, rules, or any guidance
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1 issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use

2 of unqualified ‘‘Made in U.S.A.’’ or ‘‘Made in America’’

3 claims in labels on products introduced, delivered for intro4 duction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.
Union Calendar No. 435

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 563

[Report No. 105–759]

A BILL

To establish a toll free number in the Department

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

OCTOBER 1, 1998

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