IB
Union Calendar No. 319
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2779
[Report No. 104–639]
To provide for soft-metric conversion, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 14, 1995
Mr. COX of California (for himself, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr.
FORBES, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. JONES, Mr. LATHAM, Mr.
LINDER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. TAYLOR
of North Carolina, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Science
JUNE 26, 1996
Additional sponsors: Mr. TALENT, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. COBLE,
Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. DREIER, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. INGLIS
of South Carolina, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. STUMP, Mr. TRAFI-
CANT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. HAYES, Mr.
LARGENT, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TORKILDSEN,
Mr. WALSH, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BURTON of Indi-
ana, Mr. CREMEANS, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. BUNNING of Ken-
tucky, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. WELDON of Florida,
Mr. EMERSON, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. GANSKE,
Mr. MCHUGH, Ms. PRYCE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BAKER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky,
Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. PAXTON, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. CRAPO, Mr.
HASTERT, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. BEREUTER, Mrs. SEASTRAND, Mr.
SCHIFF, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. PARKER, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms.
SLAUGHTER, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. GOSS,
Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. KIM,
Mr. MANZULLO, Mrs. MYRICK, and Mr. OXLEY
JUNE 26, 1996
Reported with amendments, 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 December 14, 1995]
A BILL
To provide for soft-metric conversion, 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 ‘‘Savings in Construction
Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 was en-
acted in order to set forth the policy of the United
States to convert to the metric system. Section 3 of
that Act requires that each Federal agency use the
metric system of measurement in its procurements,
grants and other business related activities, unless
that use is likely to cause significant cost or loss of
markets to United States firms, such as when foreign
competitors are producing competing products in
non-metric units.
(2) Currently, many Federal agencies are requir-
ing as a condition of obtaining Federal construction
contracts that all bidders must agree to use products
measured in round metric units, materials which are
known as ‘‘hard-metric’’ products. This can require
retooling, substantial capitalization costs, and other
expensive production changes for some suppliers to
physically change the size of the product.
(3) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement
has sometimes been imposed without appropriate re-
gard to whether that method is impractical or likely
to cause significant costs or a loss of markets to
United States firms.
(4) Some United States businesses that manufac-
ture basic construction products suffer harm by being
forced to convert to hard-metric production, or by
being foreclosed from effectively bidding on Federal or
federally assisted projects.
(5) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement
may place domestic producers at a competitive dis-
advantage with respect to foreign producers; may re-
duce the number of companies that may compete for
contracts with the Federal Government; and may
force manufacturers to maintain double inventories of
similar but incompatible products.
(6) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement
has unnecessarily raised the cost to the Government
of some lighting and concrete masonry products and
there is consensus that relief is in order.
(7) While the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 cur-
rently provides an exception to metric usage when
impractical or when it will cause economic inefficien-
cies, there is need for ombudsmen and procedures to
ensure the effective implementation of the exceptions.
(8) The changes made by this Act will advance
the goals of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 while
eliminating significant problems in its implementa-
tion.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
Section 4 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15
U.S.C. 205c) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)
as paragraphs (3), (6), and (7), respectively;
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
‘‘(2) ‘converted product’ means a material or
product that is produced as a result of a hard-metric
conversion;’’;
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the follow-
ing new paragraphs:
‘‘(4) ‘hard-metric’ means measurement, design,
and manufacture using the metric system of measure-
ment, but does not include measurement, design, and
manufacture using English system measurement units
which are subsequently reexpressed in the metric sys-
tem of measurement;
‘‘(5) ‘hard-metric conversion’ means a conversion
that requires, in addition to the expression of the lin-
ear dimensions of a product under the metric system
of measurement, a physical change in the size of that
product relative to the size of that product established
under the system of English measurements in produc-
tion practices of the appropriate industry;’’;
(4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(6), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this sec-
tion;
(5) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (7), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this
section, and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’; and
(6) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(8) ‘small business’ has the meaning given the
term ‘small business concern’ in section 3 of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’.