Title: Retain Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Retain Act
This bill requires an executive agency to give a contracting preference to an offeror that certifies it will retain jobs performed in the United States and use products substantially manufactured in, and services provided in, the United States for the contract.
To be eligible, an offeror shall certify that it
An executive agency may except an offeror from such requirements under specified circumstances, such as where (1) the products needed for the contract are not manufactured in the United States in sufficient quantities and are not of satisfactory quality, or (2) the use of such products would be inconsistent with the public interest.
If an agency determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or violated any of the certification requirements, it shall terminate the contract and the contractor may not receive the preference for at least five years.
The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to implement the requirements of this bill.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2342 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2342

To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting 
preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods 
       and services in the United States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2019

   Mr. Ryan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting 
preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods 
       and services in the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retain Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Hundreds of American corporations are shipping 
        thousands of jobs to foreign countries.
            (2) United States companies either send American jobs 
        overseas, or choose to employ cheap overseas labor, instead of 
        American workers.
            (3) Shifting of jobs occurs in all industry sectors 
        including manufacturing, services, supply chain, and all 
        others.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Civilian Agency Contracts.--
            (1) Amendment.--Chapter 47 of title 41, United States Code, 
        is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 4713. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States
    ``(a) Preference.--The head of an executive agency shall give a 
preference for an offeror that certifies to retain jobs performed in 
the United States (regardless of the citizenship of the employee) and 
uses products substantially manufactured in the United States and 
services provided in the United States for the contract for which an 
offer is made.
    ``(b) Applicability to Subcontracts.--The preference described 
under subsection (a) applies to the award of a contract by an executive 
agency and the award of any subcontract (at any tier) in the 
performance of such contract.
    ``(c) Certification.--To be eligible for the preference described 
under subsection (a), an offeror shall submit a certification that 
confirms the offeror and any subcontractor (if applicable)--
            ``(1) has not relocated jobs from the United States to 
        foreign countries in the preceding five years;
            ``(2) has not established foreign facilities to perform the 
        same function that otherwise could have been performed in the 
        United States with the intention of manufacturing or providing 
        the same service and importing the same product or service back 
        to the United States;
            ``(3) will not relocate jobs from the United States to 
        foreign countries during the period of performance of the 
        contract; and
            ``(4) will use products substantially manufactured in the 
        United States and services provided in the United States under 
        the contract.
    ``(d) Exception to Certification.--Notwithstanding the requirements 
of the certification described under subsection (c), the head of an 
executive agency may except an offeror from any of the requirements if 
the exception is fully described and justified and one or more of the 
following conditions apply:
            ``(1) The products are not manufactured in the United 
        States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial 
        quantities and are not of satisfactory quality.
            ``(2) There is an unreasonable cost associated with the use 
        of products substantially manufactured in the United States or 
        services provided in the United States.
            ``(3) The use of products substantially manufactured in the 
        United States or services provided in the United States would 
        be inconsistent with the public interest.
    ``(e) Violation of Certification.--If the head of an executive 
agency determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or 
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in 
subsection (c), the head of that executive agency shall terminate the 
contract for which the contractor received the preference described in 
subsection (a) and the contractor may not receive the preference for a 
period of not less than 5 years.
    ``(f) Report Required.--Not later than November 1 of each year, the 
head of an executive agency shall submit to Congress a report that 
includes the names of the contractors that have submitted a false 
statement or violated any of the requirements of the certification 
described in subsection (c) for the previous fiscal year.
    ``(g) Applicability to Parent Companies and Subsidiaries.--For 
purposes of this section, any prohibition on receiving a preference 
under subsection (e) applied with respect to a contractor shall apply 
to any subsidiary or parent company of the contractor.''.
            (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
        sections at the beginning of chapter 47 of title 41, United 
        States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
        item:

        ``4713. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States.''.
    (b) Defense Contracts.--
            (1) Amendment.--Chapter 137 of title 10, United States 
        Code, is amended by inserting after section 2316 the following 
        new section:
``Sec. 2317. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States
    ``(a) Preference.--The head of an agency shall give a preference 
for an offeror that certifies to retain jobs performed in the United 
States (regardless of the citizenship of the employee) in the United 
States and uses products substantially manufactured in the United 
States and services provided in the United States for the contract for 
which an offer is made.
    ``(b) Applicability to Subcontracts.--The preference described 
under subsection (a) applies to the award of a contract by any agency 
named in section 2303 of this chapter and the award of any subcontract 
(at any tier) in the performance of such contract.
    ``(c) Certification.--To be eligible for the preference described 
under subsection (a), an offeror shall submit a certification that 
confirms the offeror and any subcontractor (if applicable)--
            ``(1) has not relocated jobs from the United States to 
        foreign countries in the preceding five years;
            ``(2) has not established foreign facilities to perform the 
        same function that otherwise could have been performed in the 
        United States with the intention of manufacturing or providing 
        the same service and importing the same product or service back 
        to the United States;
            ``(3) will not relocate jobs from the United States to 
        foreign countries during the period of performance of the 
        contract; and
            ``(4) will use products substantially manufactured in the 
        United States and services provided in the United States under 
        the contract.
    ``(d) Exception to Certification.--Notwithstanding the requirements 
of the certification described under subsection (c), the head of an 
agency may except an offeror from any of the requirements if the 
exception is fully described and justified and one or more of the 
following conditions apply:
            ``(1) The products are not manufactured in the United 
        States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial 
        quantities and are not of satisfactory quality.
            ``(2) There is an unreasonable cost associated with the use 
        of products substantially manufactured in the United States or 
        services provided in the United States.
            ``(3) The use of products substantially manufactured in the 
        United States or services provided in the United States would 
        be inconsistent with the public interest.
    ``(e) Violation of Certification.--If the head of an agency 
determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or 
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in 
subsection (c), the head of that agency shall terminate the contract 
for which the contractor received the preference described in 
subsection (a) and the contractor may not receive the preference for a 
period of not less than 5 years.
    ``(f) Report Required.--Not later than November 1 of each year, the 
head of an agency shall submit to Congress a report that includes the 
names of the contractors that have submitted a false statement or 
violated any of the requirements of the certification described in 
subsection (c) for the previous fiscal year.
    ``(g) Applicability to Parent Companies and Subsidiaries.--For 
purposes of this section, any prohibition on receiving a preference 
under subsection (e) applied with respect to a contractor shall apply 
to any subsidiary or parent company of the contractor.''.
            (2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of 
        sections at the beginning of chapter 137 of title 10, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
        section 2316 the following new item:

        ``2317. Preference for keeping jobs in the United States.''.
    (c) Revision of Federal Acquisition Regulation.--The Federal 
Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to implement the amendment made 
by this section.
    (d) Effective Date; Applicability.--The amendments made by this 
section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
shall apply with respect to any contract awarded on or after the date 
occurring 180 days after such effective date.
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