I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1241 
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 
FEBRUARY 28, 2017 
Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. JONES, Mr. GALLAGHER, 
Mr. DUFFY, Mr. PANETTA, and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force 
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 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. WAIVER TO PURCHASE FOREIGN COMMODITIES OR 
PRODUCTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—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), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and 
(C)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) WAIVER.— 
‘‘(i) WAIVER
REQUEST.—Except as 
provided in clause (ii), a school food au-
thority shall request from the Secretary a 
waiver of subparagraph (A) to purchase 
foreign commodities or products. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—A school food au-
thority may purchase foreign commodities 
or products without a waiver under clause 
(i) if such commodities or products are 
not— 
‘‘(I) produced domestically; or 
‘‘(II) available domestically. 
‘‘(iii) 
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Sec-
retary may not grant a waiver to purchase 
foreign commodities or products under 
clause (i) unless— 
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‘‘(I) such commodities or prod-
ucts— 
‘‘(aa) are not produced do-
mestically in sufficient amounts 
or of satisfactory quality; and 
‘‘(bb) if purchased domesti-
cally, would be significantly high-
er in price than such foreign 
commodities or products; and 
‘‘(II) the school enters into an 
agreement under clause (iv). 
‘‘(iv) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 
may not grant a waiver under clause (i) 
unless the school food authority requesting 
such waiver agrees to— 
‘‘(I) make the waiver publicly 
available on the website of the school 
food authority; and 
‘‘(II) email a notification of the 
waiver to parents or guardians of stu-
dents who will be served the foreign 
commodity or product purchased pur-
suant to such waiver.’’. 
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(b) DEFINITION OF FOREIGN COMMODITY.—Section 
12(n)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(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; and 
‘‘(ii) a food product that is processed 
in the United States substantially using 
agricultural commodities that are produced 
in the United States. 
‘‘(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.’’. 
(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 
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(2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘Paragraph 
(2)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subparagraphs (A) and (C) 
of paragraph (2)’’. 
Æ 
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