Sec. 70911. FINDINGS
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/statute-compilations/comps-16776/sec-70911A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
## SEC. 70911 FINDINGS Congress finds that— ####
(1)the United States must make significant investments to install, upgrade, or replace the public works infrastructure of the United States; ####
(2)with respect to investments in the infrastructure of the United States, taxpayers expect that their public works infrastructure will be produced in the United States by American workers; ####
(3)United States taxpayer dollars invested in public infrastructure should not be used to reward companies that have moved their operations, investment dollars, and jobs to foreign countries or foreign factories, particularly those that do not share or openly flout the commitments of the United States to environmental, worker, and workplace safety protections; ####
(4)in procuring materials for public works projects, entities using taxpayer-financed Federal assistance should give a commonsense procurement preference for the materials and products produced by companies and workers in the United States in accordance with the high ideals embodied in the environmental, worker, workplace safety, and other regulatory requirements of the United States; ####
(5)common construction materials used in public works infrastructure projects, including steel, iron, manufactured products, non-ferrous metals, plastic and polymer-based products (including polyvinylchloride, composite building materials, and polymers used in fiber optic cables), glass (including optic glass), lumber, and drywall are not adequately covered by a domestic content procurement preference, thus limiting the impact of taxpayer purchases to enhance supply chains in the United States; ####
(6)the benefits of domestic content procurement preferences extend beyond economics; ####
(7)by incentivizing domestic manufacturing, domestic content procurement preferences reinvest tax dollars in companies and processes using the highest labor and environmental standards in the world; ####
(8)strong domestic content procurement preference policies act to prevent shifts in production to countries that rely on production practices that are significantly less energy efficient and far more polluting than those in the United States; ####
(9)for over 75 years, Buy America and other domestic content procurement preference laws have been part of the United States procurement policy, ensuring that the United States can build and rebuild the infrastructure of the United States with high-quality American-made materials; ####
(10)before the date of enactment of this Act, a domestic content procurement preference requirement may not apply, may apply only to a narrow scope of products and materials, or may be limited by waiver with respect to many infrastructure programs, which necessitates a review of such programs, including programs for roads, highways, and bridges, public transportation, dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime facilities, intercity passenger and freight railroads, freight and intermodal facilities, airports, water systems, including drinking water and wastewater systems, electrical transmission facilities and systems, utilities, broadband infrastructure, and buildings and real property; ####
(11)Buy America laws create demand for domestically produced goods, helping to sustain and grow domestic manufacturing and the millions of jobs domestic manufacturing supports throughout product supply chains; ####
(12)as of the date of enactment of this Act, domestic content procurement preference policies apply to all Federal Government procurement and to various Federal-aid infrastructure programs; ####
(13)a robust domestic manufacturing sector is a vital component of the national security of the United States; ####
(14)as more manufacturing operations of the United States have moved offshore, the strength and readiness of the defense industrial base of the United States has been diminished; and ####
(15)domestic content procurement preference laws— #####
(A)are fully consistent with the international obligations of the United States; and #####
(B)together with the government procurements to which the laws apply, are important levers for ensuring that United States manufacturers can access the government procurement markets of the trading partners of the United States.