Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Build America, Buy America Compliance Act”.
Build America, Buy America Compliance Act
A BILL
To require the head of each Federal agency to submit to the Made in America Office and to Congress an annual report on the implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act that identifies each new and existing Federal financial assistance program for infrastructure that has and has not fully implemented Buy America preference requirements under that Act, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
public works infrastructure projects should utilize materials and products produced in the United States by United States businesses and United States workers to create jobs, strengthen supply chains, and enhance our national security, as intended by the enactment of the Build America, Buy America Act (41 U.S.C. 8301 note; Public Law 117–58) (referred to in this section as the “BABA Act”);
before the date of enactment of the BABA Act—
significant shares of taxpayer-financed infrastructure spending occurred without regard to the origin of the materials and products acquired for public use; and
domestic content procurement preferences (referred to in this section as “Buy America laws”) applied to federally assisted infrastructure projects were limited in their programmatic and product coverage, eroded by waivers, and narrowed by loopholes;
the BABA Act strengthens Buy America laws in the United States, ensuring that all federally assisted infrastructure projects are constructed using iron and steel, construction materials, and manufactured products produced in the United States;
the BABA Act discourages the issuance of general applicability waivers that erode Buy America laws, reduce visibility into domestic supply chain vulnerabilities, and eliminate opportunities for United States businesses and United States workers to produce materials and products used in taxpayer-funded infrastructure;
the BABA Act authorizes Federal agencies to issue a waiver to a Buy America law to overcome short-term market limitations, such as availability or cost as specified in section 70914(b) of that Act, and when justified, Federal agencies should issue ad hoc, product-specific waivers to ensure projects proceed without delay and with full transparency in order to signal market demand and trigger new capital investments to expand domestic manufacturing capacities;
all waivers to Buy America laws should be publicly accessible on the website of the Made in America Office established under section 70923(a) of the BABA Act;
the Administrator of General Services should take additional steps to ensure that the public website required under section 70936 of the BABA Act is complete and readily available for public use; and
Congress should continue to work with Federal agencies to identify and close loopholes to existing Buy America laws that result in taxpayer dollars being spent on imported products and materials to complete federally assisted infrastructure projects.
Sec. 3 Report on implementation of Buy America preference
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the head of each Federal agency shall—
submit to the Made in America Office and to Congress, including a separate notice to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and any other committees of jurisdiction, a report on the implementation of the Build America, Buy America Act (41 U.S.C. 8301 note; Public Law 117–58) that—
includes an updated list of new and existing Federal financial assistance programs for infrastructure administered by the Federal agency as described in section 70913(a)(1) of that Act;
identifies each Federal financial assistance program for infrastructure administered by the Federal agency for which the Federal agency has fully implemented section 70914 of that Act;
identifies each Federal financial assistance program for infrastructure administered by the Federal agency for which the Federal agency has not fully implemented section 70914 of that Act;
for each program identified under subparagraph (B), describes all actions taken by the Federal agency to meet the requirements of section 70914 of that Act and to preserve any existing Buy America laws, policies, or regulations that meet or exceed the requirements of section 70914 of that Act as required by section 70917 of that Act; and
for each program identified under subparagraph (C), includes an anticipated timeline and the steps that will be taken by the Federal agency—
to achieve full implementation of section 70914 of that Act; and
to replace the use of general applicability waivers with ad hoc, project-specific waivers to the maximum extent possible; and
publish in the Federal Register the report under paragraph (1).