I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4613 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 
a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the 
Buy American requirement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2023 
Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to require a school food authority to make publicly 
available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Food for 
American Schools Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASE OF FOREIGN COM-
MODITIES OR PRODUCTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 12(n) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) 
is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) DOMESTIC
COMMODITY
OR
PROD-
UCT.—The term ‘domestic commodity or prod-
uct’ means— 
‘‘(i) an agricultural commodity that is 
produced in the United States; 
‘‘(ii) a food product that— 
‘‘(I) is processed in the United 
States; and 
‘‘(II) substantially contains agri-
cultural commodities described in 
clause (i); and 
‘‘(iii) fish or seafood harvested— 
‘‘(I) within the Exclusive Eco-
nomic Zone of the United States (as 
established by Presidential Proclama-
tion Number 5030, dated March 10, 
1983) (16 U.S.C. 1453 note)); or 
‘‘(II) by a United States-flagged 
vessel. 
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‘‘(B) FOREIGN
COMMODITY
OR
PROD-
UCT.—The term ‘foreign commodity or product’ 
means a commodity or product other than a do-
mestic commodity or product.’’. 
(b) REQUIREMENT.—Section 12(n)(2) of the Richard 
B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1760(n)(2)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘purchase, to the max-
imum extent practicable, domestic’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘purchase domestic’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘for the 
school lunch program under this Act or the school 
breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nu-
trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).’’ and inserting 
the following: ‘‘for— 
‘‘(I) the school lunch program 
under this Act, including any snacks 
served under that program; 
‘‘(II) the summer food service 
program for children under section 
13; 
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‘‘(III) the child and adult care 
food program under section 17; 
‘‘(IV) the special milk program 
under section 3 of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772); and 
‘‘(V) the school breakfast pro-
gram under section 4 of the Child Nu-
trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1773).’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) WAIVER.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), a school food authority 
shall be required to request from the Sec-
retary a waiver of subparagraph (A) before 
purchasing foreign commodities or prod-
ucts. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—A school food au-
thority may purchase foreign commodities 
or products without a waiver under clause 
(i) if the foreign commodities or prod-
ucts— 
‘‘(I) are not produced or proc-
essed domestically in sufficient quan-
tities and of satisfactory quality; or 
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‘‘(II) are not reasonably available 
domestically in sufficient quantities 
and of satisfactory quality. 
‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—Waivers may only 
be granted under clause (i) for up to 5 
percent of the total annual commercial 
food costs of a school food authority within 
each food component (as defined in section 
210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regula-
tions (or successor regulations)). 
‘‘(iv) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 
A school food authority that purchases for-
eign commodities or products under this 
subparagraph shall be required, not less 
than once each school year, to notify par-
ents or guardians of students of the for-
eign commodities or products purchased. 
‘‘(v) PUBLICLY
AVAILABLE
LIST
OF 
WAIVERS.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Not later 
than 1 year after the first waiver is 
provided under this subparagraph, the 
Secretary shall establish and maintain 
on the website of the Department of 
Agriculture a publicly available list of 
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each waiver provided under this sub-
paragraph, which shall include infor-
mation— 
‘‘(aa)(AA) on each school 
food authority that has received a 
waiver under this subparagraph; 
and 
‘‘(BB) on each food product 
for which that school food au-
thority received the waiver; and 
‘‘(bb) contained in each re-
port 
submitted 
under 
clause 
(vi)(II). 
‘‘(II) MAINTENANCE.—The Sec-
retary shall update the list established 
in subclause (I)— 
‘‘(aa) with respect to item 
(aa) of that subclause, not later 
than 90 days after a waiver is 
granted under this subparagraph; 
and 
‘‘(bb) with respect to item 
(bb) of that subclause, on an an-
nual basis. 
‘‘(vi) REPORTS.— 
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‘‘(I) REPORT
TO
STATE
EDU-
CATIONAL
AGENCY.—A school food 
authority shall submit to the State 
educational agency that serves the 
school food authority, on an annual 
basis, a report detailing the categories 
of foreign commodities or products 
purchased without a waiver under 
clause (ii). 
‘‘(II) REPORT TO SECRETARY.— 
The State educational agency shall 
submit to the Secretary, on an annual 
basis, a report containing a compila-
tion of the information reported to the 
State educational agency under sub-
clause (I).’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 12(n) of 
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Paragraph 
(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subparagraphs (A) and (C) 
of paragraph (2)’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Paragraph 
(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subparagraphs (A) and (C) 
of paragraph (2)’’. 
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SEC. 3. BUY AMERICAN CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) CONTRACTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any contract entered 
into between a school food authority and a sup-
plier for a commodity or food product for pro-
grams under this Act or the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) after the 
date of enactment of this paragraph shall in-
clude a provision (referred to in this paragraph 
as the ‘covered provision’) that requires the 
supplier to comply with the requirements of this 
subsection. 
‘‘(B) REIMBURSEMENT IN THE CASE OF 
NONCOMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A supplier that 
enters into a contract described in sub-
paragraph (A) that does not comply with 
the covered provision in the contract shall 
be required to pay to the Secretary an 
amount equal to the amount of Federal 
funds the supplier used to purchase foreign 
commodities or products in noncompliance 
of the covered provision. 
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‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Funds paid to the 
Secretary under clause (i) shall be avail-
able to the Secretary, without further ap-
propriation or fiscal year limitation, to 
carry out subsection (m). 
‘‘(C) USE OF NONCOMPLIANT GOODS.—A 
school food authority that receives foreign com-
modities or products that were obtained in non-
compliance with the covered provision in the 
contract of the school food authority may use 
those foreign commodities or products without 
requesting a waiver under paragraph (2)(C). 
‘‘(D) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(i) REPORT TO STATE EDUCATIONAL 
AGENCY.—A school food authority shall 
submit to the State educational agency 
that serves the school food authority an 
annual report describing any noncompli-
ance of a covered provision in any contract 
described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(ii) REPORT
TO
SECRETARY.—A 
State educational agency shall submit to 
the Secretary an annual report containing 
a compilation of each instance of non-
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compliance reported to the State edu-
cational agency under clause (i). 
‘‘(E) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 
make publicly available on the website of the 
Department of Agriculture a list of each in-
stance of noncompliance reported to the Sec-
retary under subparagraph (D)(ii).’’. 
SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF BUY AMERICAN PROCURE-
MENT TRAINING PROGRAM. 
Section 12(m)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(m)(4)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘$1,000,000’’ and inserting 
‘‘$5,000,000’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘2010 through 2015’’ and in-
serting ‘‘2023 through 2028’’. 
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. 
(a) RICHARD
B. RUSSELL
NATIONAL
SCHOOL 
LUNCH ACT.— 
(1) Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is 
amended— 
(A) in paragraph (3)(E)(iii), in each of 
subclauses (III) and (IV), by striking ‘‘reduced- 
price’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘re-
duced price’’; and 
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(B) in paragraph (15)(A)(i)(II), by strik-
ing 
‘‘regulations)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘regula-
tions))’’. 
(2) Section 11(e) of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(e)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘reduced-priced’’ and inserting 
‘‘reduced price’’. 
(3) Section 13(a)(7)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1761(a)(7)(A)(iv)) is amended by inserting ‘‘sec-
tion’’ after ‘‘under’’. 
(4) Section 17(o)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Rus-
sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1766(o)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘consulation’’ 
and inserting ‘‘consultation’’. 
(5) Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell Na-
tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769c) is 
amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking the subsection designa-
tion and heading and all that follows 
through ‘‘There’’ in paragraph (1) in the 
matter preceding subparagraph (A) and in-
serting the following: 
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‘‘(a) UNIFIED ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM.—There’’; 
and 
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), re-
spectively, and indenting appropriately; 
and 
(B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘in 
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
subsection (a)’’. 
(b) CHILD NUTRITION ACT OF 1966.— 
(1) Section 7(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Nutrition 
Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘clause (ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause 
(ii))’’. 
(2) Section 17(h)(4) of the Child Nutrition Act 
of 1966 (7 U.S.C. 1786(h)(4)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)(vi), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(B) in subparagraph (C)(iv), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a period. 
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act shall affect the requirements under section 4207 of 
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the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 
1760 note; Public Law 115–334). 
Æ 
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