Date: 2005-05-18
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Madam Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman. this amendment would radically change the current application of the Buy American Act. and it could place the United States in violation of most international trade agreements in which we are signatories. including the World Trade Organizations Government Procurement Agreement. something. by the way. we are working to get China to sign right now because of some of the restrictions they are putting on their procurement policy. the North American Free Trade Agreemient. the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement. and the U.S.-Australia Free Trade agreement. This restriction would have a devastating effect on the Department of Homeland Securitys ability to buy the most hightech and sophisticated products at a reasonable price to support our critical antiterror efforts. We should be able to get the best hightechnology goods at the lowest cost for the American taxpayer so that we can fight this war on terrorism in a costeffective manner. For instance. this amendment would sweep away. the current $175.000 ceiling for the Buy American Act required for the application with the Trade Agreements Act of 1979. This is the basis for our participation in the Government Procurement Agreement. The restriction would cause Customs and border protection problems in purchasing the best aircraft. the best camera equipment. the best surveillance equipment from the world market to protect our borders. Further. the amendment would interfere with critical research and development agreements we currently have with the United Kingdom. BlackBerrys. something that most Members use and are used widely throughout the government. are a Canadian product. Thirty. 40 percent of its components are made and manufactured in the United States. but they would be subject to restrictions put on by this amendment. The United States is already challenged to compete in a global marketplace. We do not always have a competitive advantage. But dismantling the regime of free trade agreements that help create and support the vibrant world marketplace in the end only hurts American workers. Besides violating our trade agreements. this provision will require the Department to pay an artificially high price for products it needs to protect us against terror. Homeland Security dollars are already scarce. We should not be wasting our Homeland Security dollars when U.S. citizens are volunteering their personal time to protect the southern border. Under this amendment. businesses are required to certify compliance with the Buy American Act. potentially exposing American businesses to civil false claims and other sanctions even if they have made goodfaith efforts to comply with the governmentunique requirements. In a global marketplace where components are assembled throughout the world. it is often difficult to ascertain what that 50 percent margin is. This creates significant financial and legal burdens for industry. given that more and more information technology so critical for the fight against _terror is being sourced in our global economy from around the world. Some companies have responded to Buy American Act restrictions by establishing costly laborintensive producttracking systems that are not needed in their commercial business to ensure that products being sold to the government meet the governmentunique. requirements. But small businesses in particular often cannot afford to establish special systems for that kind of compliance. So this hurts small businesses trying to sell to the government in a global economy. Some companies have simply stopped selling certain products in the Federal marketplace. denying us access to some of the latest. most costeffective products. Further. - this decrease in sales is disproportionately devastating to small businesses. This radical. in my opinion. Buy American Act provision will impose financial and legal burdens on commercial companies that sell to our government. It may well prevent the Department of Homeland Security from obtaining the best technology to protect our Nation. Again. BlackBerrys would be subject to this. something that most Members and most government workers use. because they are from a Canadian company. This increased restriction on the Departments ability to obtain needed technology from the world market is a Cold War anachronism. Given the Department of Homeland Securitys growing reliance on information technology and other advanced products and the current global nature of the industry. the Departments ability to fulfill its critical antiterror mission will be crippled by this restrictive provision. I hope that Members have the sense to vote against this. and I urge that we defeat this amendment. Madam Chairman. I reserve the balance of my time.