I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3589
To direct the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to
require, as a condition of any financial assistance provided on a non-
emergency basis by the Agency for a construction project, that the
steel, iron, and manufactured products used in the project be produced
in the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2000
Mr. COLLINS (for himself and Mr. TRAFICANT) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Director of the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency to require, as a condition of any financial
assistance provided on a non-emergency basis by the
Agency for a construction project, that the steel, iron,
and manufactured products used in the project be pro-
duced in the United States.
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 ‘‘Federal Emergency
Management Agency Buy American Compliance Act’’.
SEC. 2. APPLICABILITY OF BUY AMERICAN REQUIREMENTS
TO FEMA ASSISTANCE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency shall require, as a condi-
tion of any financial assistance provided by the Agency
on a non-emergency basis for a construction project, that
the steel, iron, and manufactured products used in the
project be produced in the United States.
(b) WAIVERS.—The requirements of subsection (a)
shall not apply in any case in which the Director finds—
(1) that their application would be inconsistent
with the public interest;
(2) that such materials and products are not
produced in the United States in sufficient and rea-
sonably available quantities and of a satisfactory
quality; or
(3) that inclusion of domestic material will in-
crease the cost of the overall project contract by
more than 25 percent.
(c) CALCULATION OF COSTS.—For purposes of this
section, in calculating components’ costs, labor costs in-
volved in final assembly shall not be included in the cal-
culation.
(d) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—The Director shall not
impose any limitation or condition on assistance provided
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that re-
stricts any State from imposing more stringent require-
ments than this section on the use of articles, materials,
and supplies mined, produced, or manufactured in foreign
countries in projects carried out with such assistance or
restricts any recipient of such assistance from complying
with such State imposed requirements.
(e) REPORT ON WAIVERS.—The Director shall sub-
mit to Congress on an annual basis a report on the pur-
chases from foreign entities waived under subsection (b),
indicating the dollar value of items for which waivers were
granted under subsection (b).
(f) INTENTIONAL VIOLATIONS.—If it has been deter-
mined by a court or Federal agency that any person
intentionally—
(1) affixed a label bearing a ‘‘Made in Amer-
ica’’ inscription, or any inscription with the same
meaning, to any product used in projects to which
this section applies, sold in or shipped to the United
States that was not made in the United States; or
(2) represented that any product used in
projects to which this section applies, sold in or
shipped to the United States that was not produced
in the United States, was produced in the United
States;
that person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or
subcontract made with financial assistance made available
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency pursuant
to the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures
in subpart 9.4 of chapter 1 of title 48, Code of Federal
Regulations.
(g) LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY OF WAIVERS TO
PRODUCTS PRODUCED
IN CERTAIN FOREIGN COUN-
TRIES.—If the Director, in consultation with the United
States Trade Representative, determines that—
(1) a foreign country is a party to an agree-
ment with the United States and pursuant to that
agreement the head of an agency of the United
States has waived the requirements of this section;
and
(2) the foreign country has violated the terms
of the agreement by discriminating against products
covered by this section that are produced in the
United States and are covered by the agreement,
the requirements of subsection (b) shall not apply to prod-
ucts produced in that foreign country.
Æ