S 732 — BuyAmerican.gov Act of 2021
Last action — Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 586.
No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.
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✓Introduced
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2In Committee
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3Passed Senate
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4Passed House
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5To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill died with 117th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.
Bill Text
What changed in the latest version
323 added · 110 removedPlain-language change summary
The amendment made changes to sections regarding the definitions and compliance measures relating to "Buy American" laws. It removed specific references to various laws and altered the requirements for executive agencies to audit their compliance with these laws. This affects how agencies will monitor and report their adherence to "Buy American" standards and the treatment of waivers and exceptions.
732 IntroducedReported in Senate (IS)](RS)] <DOC> 117thCalendar CONGRESSNo. 1st Session S.
732586 To117th strengthenCONGRESS Buy2d AmericanSession requirements,S. and for other purposes.
732 [Report No.
117-227] To strengthen Buy American requirements, and for other purposes.
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs _______________________________________________________________________December A5, BILL2022 ToReported strengthenby BuyMr. American requirements, and for other purposes.
BePeters, itwith enactedan byamendment [Strike out all after the Senateenacting clause and Houseinsert ofthe Representativespart ofprinted thein Uniteditalic] States_______________________________________________________________________ ofA AmericaBILL inTo Congressstrengthen assembled,Buy SECTIONAmerican 1.requirements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, <DELETED>SECTION 1.
SHORT TITLE.</DELETED> <DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``BuyAmerican.gov Act of 2021''.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
2.
DEFINITIONS.</DELETED> <DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) Buy american law.--The term ``Buy American law'' means any law, regulation, Executive order, or rule relating to Federal contracts, grants, or financial assistance that requires or provides a preference for the purchase or use of goods, products, or materials mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States, including--</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Buy American Act'');</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) section 5323(j) of title 49, United States Code;</DELETED> <DELETED> (C) section 313 of title 23, United States Code;</DELETED> <DELETED> (D) section 50101 of title 49, United States Code;</DELETED> <DELETED> (E) section 24405 of title 49, United States Code;</DELETED> <DELETED> (F) section 608 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
1388);</DELETED> <DELETED> (G) section 1452(a)(4) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C.
300j-12(a)(4));</DELETED> <DELETED> (H) section 5035 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C.
3914);</DELETED> <DELETED> (I) section 2533a of title 10, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ``Berry Amendment'');</DELETED> <DELETED> (J) section 2533b of title 10, United States Code;
and</DELETED> <DELETED> (K) section 604 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (6 U.S.C.
453b).</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
3.
SENSE OF CONGRESS ON BUYING AMERICAN.</DELETED> <DELETED> It is the sense of Congress that--</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) every executive agency should maximize, through terms and conditions of Federal financial assistance awards and Federal procurements, the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States and contracts for outsourced government service contracts to be performed by United States nationals;</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) every executive agency should scrupulously monitor, enforce, and comply with Buy American Laws, to the extent they apply, and minimize the use of waivers;
and</DELETED> <DELETED> (3) every executive agency should implement processes to routinely audit its compliance with Buy American laws using data from the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
4.
REPORT ON BUY AMERICAN COMPLIANCE EFFORTS.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for two years, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary of State, and the heads of other executive agencies, shall submit to Congress and the President a report on the implementation of, and compliance with, Buy American laws.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) shall include the following elements:</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) An assessment of the monitoring of, enforcement of, implementation of, and compliance with Buy American Laws within each executive agency.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) A listing of each waiver and exception used by an executive agency and an assessment of waivers by type and impact on domestic jobs and manufacturing.</DELETED> <DELETED> (3) Recommendations for policies for executive agencies to ensure that, to the extent permitted by law, Federal financial assistance awards and Federal contacts maximize the use of goods, products, and materials mined, produced, and manufactured in the United States, including manufactured products, components of manufactured products, and materials such as steel, iron, aluminum, and cement and services.</DELETED> <DELETED> (c) Agency Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for two years, the head of each executive agency shall submit to the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report on the implementation of, and compliance with, Buy American laws and covering with respect to that agency the elements set forth in subsection (b).</DELETED> <DELETED> (d) Guidance.--The head of each executive agency shall review the guidance issued to executive agencies in accordance with Executive Order 13788 regarding assessment of waivers and policies addressing Buy American laws and, as necessary, issue additional guidance.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
5.
ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS.</DELETED> <DELETED> Not later than 150 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative shall assess the impacts in a publicly available report of all United States free trade agreements and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement on the operation of Buy American Laws, including their impacts on the implementation of domestic procurement preferences.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
6.
JUDICIOUS USE OF WAIVERS.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) In General.--To the extent permitted by law, public interest waivers from Buy American Laws shall be construed to ensure the maximum utilization of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Public Interest Waiver Determinations.--To the extent permitted by law, determination of public interest waivers shall be made by the head of the agency with the authority over the Federal financial assistance award or Federal procurement under consideration.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
7.
ESTABLISHMENT OF BUYAMERICAN.GOV WEBSITE.</DELETED> <DELETED> Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall establish an internet website with the address BuyAmerican.gov that will be publicly available and free to access.
The website shall include information on all waivers of and exceptions to Buy American laws that have been requested, are under consideration, or have been granted by executive agencies and be designed to enable manufacturers and other interested parties to easily identify waivers.
The website shall also include the results of routine audits of the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation to determine data errors and Buy American law violations after the award of a contract.
The website shall provide publicly available contact information for the contracting agencies.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
8.
WAIVER TRANSPARENCY AND STREAMLINING FOR GRANTS.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) Collection of Information.--The President, in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies, shall develop a mechanism to collect information on requests to waive Buy American laws and other domestic content restrictions, utilizing existing reporting requirements whenever possible, for purposes of providing early notice to possible waivers via the website established under subsection (a).
The heads of executive agencies shall report to the Administrator as quickly as possible waivers requested or under consideration and waivers granted due to the non-availability of procured items or service providers for purposes of posting such information on the website established under such subsection.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Waiver Transparency and Streamlining.--Not less than days prior to waiving, under his or her statutory authority, any applicable Buy American law, the head of an executive agency shall submit to the Administrator of General Services a notice of the agency's intention to waive the Buy American law.
Not later than 5 days after receiving this information from the head of an executive agency, the Administrator of General Services shall make available to the public, by posting on the website established under section 7, a copy of the information provided pursuant to subsection (a), and shall allow for informal public comment on the request for at least 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request.</DELETED> <DELETED> (c) Information Available to the Executive Agency Concerning the Request.--</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) Requirement.--No requested waiver of an applicable Buy American Law may be granted if, in contravention of subsection (b)--</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) information about the waiver was not made available on the website under section 7;
or</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) no opportunity for public comment concerning the request was granted.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Scope.--Information made available to the public concerning the request included on the website described in section 7 shall properly and adequately document and justify the statutory basis cited for the requested waiver.
Such information shall include--</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) a detailed justification for the use of goods, products, or materials mined, produced, or manufactured outside the United States;</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) for requests citing unreasonable cost as the statutory basis of the waiver, a comparison of the cost of the domestic product to the cost of the foreign product or a comparison of the overall cost of the project with domestic products to the overall cost of the project with foreign-origin products or services, pursuant to the requirements of the applicable Buy American law, except that publicly available cost comparison data may be provided in lieu of proprietary pricing information;</DELETED> <DELETED> (C) for requests citing the public interest as the statutory basis for the waiver, a detailed written statement, which shall include all appropriate factors, such as potential obligations under international agreements, justifying why the requested waiver is in the public interest;
and</DELETED> <DELETED> (D) a certification that the procurement official or assistance recipient made a good faith effort to solicit bids for domestic products supported by terms included in requests for proposals, contracts, and nonproprietary communications with the prime contractor.</DELETED> <DELETED> (d) Nonavailability Waivers.--</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), for a request citing nonavailability as the statutory basis for a waiver, an executive agency shall provide an explanation of the procurement official's efforts to procure a product from a domestic source and the reasons why a domestic product was not suitable.
Those explanations shall be made available on BuyAmerican.gov prior to the issuance of the waiver, and the agency shall consider public comments regarding the availability of the product before making a final determination.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Exception.--An explanation under paragraph (1) is not required for a product the nonavailability of which is established by law or regulation.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
9.
WAIVER TRANSPARENCY AND STREAMLINING FOR PROCUREMENT.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) Publication of Information.--Not less than 20 days prior to waiving, pursuant to statutory authority, any applicable Buy American law, the head of an executive agency shall make information concerning the intention to issue a waiver or exception in connection with a Federal procurement available to the Administrator of General Services.
A notice of the agency's intention to waive a Buy American law shall be made available to the public through BuyAmerican.gov and shall include the statutory basis for exercise of the waiver or exception.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Nonavailability Waivers.--</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), for a request citing nonavailability as the statutory basis for a waiver, an executive agency shall provide an explanation of the procurement official's efforts to procure a product from a domestic source and the reasons why a domestic product was not suitable.
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The explanation shall be made available on BuyAmerican.gov prior to the issuance of the waiver, and the agency shall consider public comments regarding the availability of the product before making a final determination.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Exception.--An explanation under paragraph (1) is not required for a product the nonavailability of which is established by law or regulation.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
10.
COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.</DELETED> <DELETED> Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report describing the implementation of this Act, including recommendations for any legislation to improve the collection and reporting of information regarding waivers of and exceptions to Buy American laws.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
11.
RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) Disclosure Requirements.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preempting, superseding, or otherwise affecting the application of any disclosure requirement or requirements otherwise provided by law or regulation.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Establishment of Successor Information Systems.-- Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing or otherwise limiting the ability of the Administrator of General Services to move the data required to be included on the website established under subsection (a) to a successor information system.
Any such information system shall include a reference to BuyAmerican.gov.</DELETED> <DELETED>SEC.
12.
CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.</DELETED> <DELETED> This Act shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements.</DELETED> SECTION 1.
and (J) section 2533b of title 10, United States Code;Code.
and(2) (K)Executive sectionagency.--The 604term of``executive agency'' has the Americanmeaning Recoverygiven andthe Reinvestmentterm Act``agency'' in paragraph (1) of 2009section (63502 U.S.C.of title 44, United States Code, except that it does not include an independent regulatory agency, as that term is defined in paragraph (5) of such section.
453b).(3) Buy american waiver.--The term ``Buy American waiver'' refers to an exception to or waiver of any Buy American law, or the terms and conditions used by an agency in granting an exception to or waiver from Buy American laws.
(2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code.
(2) every executive agency should scrupulously monitor, enforce, and comply with Buy American Laws,laws, to the extent they apply, and minimize the use of waivers;
and (3) every executive agency should implementuse processesavailable data to routinely audit its compliance with Buy American lawslaws. using data from the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation.
REPORT ON BUY AMERICAN COMPLIANCE EFFORTS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for two years, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the United States Trade Representative, the Secretary of State, and the heads of other executive agencies, shall submit to Congress and the President a report on the implementation of, and compliance with, Buy American laws.
(b) Elements.--The report required under subsection (a) shall include the following elements:
(1) An assessment of the monitoring of, enforcement of, implementation of, and compliance with Buy American Laws within each executive agency.
(2) A listing of each waiver and exception used by an executive agency and an assessment of waivers by type and impact on domestic jobs and manufacturing.
(3) Recommendations for policies for executive agencies to ensure that, to the extent permitted by law, Federal financial assistance awards and Federal contacts maximize the use of goods, products, and materials mined, produced, and manufactured in the United States, including manufactured products, components of manufactured products, and materials such as steel, iron, aluminum, and cement and services.
(c) Agency Reports.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for two years, the head of each executive agency shall submit to the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report on the implementation of, and compliance with, Buy American laws and covering with respect to that agency the elements set forth in subsection (b).
(d) Guidance.--The head of each executive agency shall review the guidance issued to executive agencies in accordance with Executive Order 13788 regarding assessment of waivers and policies addressing Buy American laws and, as necessary, issue additional guidance.
SEC.
5.
Not later than 150 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of CommerceCommerce, and the United States Trade RepresentativeRepresentative, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall assess the impacts in a publicly available report of all United States free trade agreementsagreements, and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government ProcurementProcurement, and Federal permitting processes on the operation of Buy American Laws,laws, including their impacts on the implementation of domestic procurement preferences.
6.5.
(a) In General.--To the extent permitted by law, publica interestBuy waiversAmerican fromwaiver Buythat Americanis Lawsdetermined by an agency head or other relevant official to be in the public interest shall be construed to ensure the maximum utilization of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States.
7.6.
Not(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall establish an internetInternet website with the address BuyAmerican.gov that will be publicly available and free to access.
The website shall include information on all waivers of and exceptions to Buy American laws since the date of the enactment of this Act that have been requested, are under consideration, or have been granted by executive agencies and be designed to enable manufacturers and other interested parties to easily identify waivers.
The website shall also include the results of routine audits of the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation to determine data errors and Buy American law violations after the award of a contract.
The website shall provide publicly available contact information for the relevant contracting agencies.
(b) Utilization of Existing Website.--The requirements of subsection (a) may be met by utilizing an existing website, provided that the address of that website is BuyAmerican.gov.
8.7.
WAIVER TRANSPARENCY AND STREAMLINING FOR GRANTS.CONTRACTS.
(a) Collection of Information.--The President,Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies, shall develop a mechanism to collect information on requests to waiveinvoke a Buy American lawswaiver andfor othera domesticFederal contentcontract, restrictions, utilizing existing reporting requirements whenever possible, for purposes of providing early notice toof possible waivers via the website established under subsectionsection (a).6.
The(b) headsWaiver ofTransparency executiveand agenciesStreamlining.-- shall(1) reportRequirement.--Prior to granting a request to waive a Buy American law, the Administratorhead asof quicklyan asexecutive possibleagency waiversshall requestedsubmit ora underrequest considerationto andinvoke waiversa grantedBuy dueAmerican waiver to the non-availabilityAdministrator of procuredGeneral itemsServices, orand servicethe providersAdministrator forof purposesGeneral ofServices postingshall suchmake informationthe request available on or through the public website established under suchsection subsection.6 for public comment for not less than 15 days.
(b)(2) WaiverException.--The Transparencyrequirement andunder Streamlining.--Notparagraph less(1) thandoes 20not daysapply prior to waiving,a underrequest hisfor ora her statutory authority, any applicable Buy American law,waiver theto headsatisfy of an executiveurgent agencycontracting shallneed submitin toan theunforeseen Administratorand ofexigent Generalcircumstance. Services a notice of the agency's intention to waive the Buy American law.
Not(c) laterInformation thanAvailable 5to days after receiving this information from the headExecutive ofAgency anConcerning executive agency, the AdministratorRequest.-- of(1) GeneralRequirement.--No ServicesBuy shallAmerican makewaiver availablefor topurposes theof public,awarding bya postingcontract onmay thebe websitegranted establishedif, underin sectioncontravention 7,of asubsection copy(b)-- of(A) the information providedabout pursuantthe towaiver subsectionwas (a),not andmade shallavailable allow for informal public comment on the requestwebsite forunder atsection least6; 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request.
(c) Information Available to the Executive Agency Concerning the Request.-- (1) Requirement.--No requested waiver of an applicable Buy American Law may be granted if, in contravention of subsection (b)-- (A) information about the waiver was not made available on the website under section 7;
(2) Scope.--Information made available to the public concerning the request included on the website described in section 76 shall properly and adequately document and justify the statutory basis cited for the requested waiver.
(d) Nonavailability Waivers.-- (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), for a request citing nonavailability as the statutory basis for a Buy American waiver, an executive agency shall provide an explanation of the procurement official's efforts to procure a product from a domestic source and the reasons why a domestic product was not suitable.available from a domestic source.
9.8.
WAIVER TRANSPARENCY AND STREAMLINING FOR PROCUREMENT.
(a) Publication of Information.--Not less than 20 days prior to waiving, pursuant to statutory authority, any applicable Buy American law, the head of an executive agency shall make information concerning the intention to issue a waiver or exception in connection with a Federal procurement available to the Administrator of General Services.
A notice of the agency's intention to waive a Buy American law shall be made available to the public through BuyAmerican.gov and shall include the statutory basis for exercise of the waiver or exception.
(b) Nonavailability Waivers.-- (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2), for a request citing nonavailability as the statutory basis for a waiver, an executive agency shall provide an explanation of the procurement official's efforts to procure a product from a domestic source and the reasons why a domestic product was not suitable.
The explanation shall be made available on BuyAmerican.gov prior to the issuance of the waiver, and the agency shall consider public comments regarding the availability of the product before making a final determination.
(2) Exception.--An explanation under paragraph (1) is not required for a product the nonavailability of which is established by law or regulation.
SEC.
10.
11.9.
12.10.
<all>SEC.
11.
PROSPECTIVE AMENDMENTS TO INTERNAL CROSS-REFERENCES.
(a) In General.--Section 2(1) is amended-- (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``section 2533a'' and inserting ``section 4862'';
and (2) in subparagraph (J), by striking ``section 2533b'' and inserting ``section 4863''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 2022.
Calendar No.
586 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S.
732 [Report No.
117-227] _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To strengthen Buy American requirements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________ December 5, 2022 Reported with an amendment
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View plain text versions (2)
- Reported Reported to Senate Current html December 05, 2022
- Introduced Introduced in Senate html March 11, 2021
Action History
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Introduced in Senate
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
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Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
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Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Peters with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 117-227.
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Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Peters with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 117-227.
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 586.
Sponsors
- Rob Portman · Primary
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on
Sponsors (1)
- Portman, Rob Republican
Co-sponsors (0)
None.
Not signed on (546)
546 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 546 →"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- Who sponsors S 732?
- S 732 is sponsored by Portman, Rob (Republican).
- What is the current status of S 732?
- This bill died with 117th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
- Where can I track S 732?
- Track S 732 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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