§ 453b. Requirement to buy certain items related to national security interests from American sources; exceptions

(a) Requirement

Except as provided in subsections (c) through (g), funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Department of Homeland Security may not be used for the procurement of an item described in subsection (b) if the item is not grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States.

(b) Covered items

An item referred to in subsection (a) is any of the following, if the item is directly related to the national security interests of the United States:

(1) ^[1] An article or item of—

(A) clothing and the materials and components thereof, other than sensors, electronics, or other items added to, and not normally associated with, clothing (and the materials and components thereof);

(B) tents, tarpaulins, covers, textile belts, bags, protective equipment (including but not limited to body armor), sleep systems, load carrying equipment (including but not limited to fieldpacks), textile marine equipment, parachutes, or bandages;

(C) cotton and other natural fiber products, woven silk or woven silk blends, spun silk yarn for cartridge cloth, synthetic fabric or coated synthetic fabric (including all textile fibers and yarns that are for use in such fabrics), canvas products, or wool (whether in the form of fiber or yarn or contained in fabrics, materials, or manufactured articles); or

(D) any item of individual equipment manufactured from or containing such fibers, yarns, fabrics, or materials.

Subsection (a) does not apply to the extent that the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that satisfactory quality and sufficient quantity of any such article or item described in subsection (b)(1) grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States cannot be procured as and when needed at United States market prices. This section is not applicable to covered items that are, or include, materials determined to be non-available in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 25.104 Nonavailable Articles.

(d) De minimis exception

Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may accept delivery of an item covered by subsection (b) that contains non-compliant fibers if the total value of non-compliant fibers contained in the end item does not exceed 10 percent of the total purchase price of the end item.

(e) Exception for certain procurements outside the United States

Subsection (a) does not apply to the following:

(1) Procurements by vessels in foreign waters.

(2) Emergency procurements.

(f) Exception for small purchases

Subsection (a) does not apply to purchases for amounts not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold referred to in section 2304 (g) of title 10.

(g) Applicability to contracts and subcontracts for procurement of commercial items

This section is applicable to contracts and subcontracts for the procurement of commercial items not withstanding section 1906 of title 41, with the exception of commercial items listed under subsections (b)(1)(C) and (b)(1)(D) above. For the purposes of this section, “commercial” shall be as defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation—Part 2.

(h) Geographic coverage

In this section, the term “United States” includes the possessions of the United States.

(i) Notification required within 7 days after contract award if certain exceptions applied

In the case of any contract for the procurement of an item described in subsection (b)(1), if the Secretary of Homeland Security applies an exception set forth in subsection (c) with respect to that contract, the Secretary shall, not later than 7 days after the award of the contract, post a notification that the exception has been applied on the Internet site maintained by the General Services Administration known as FedBizOps.gov (or any successor site).

(j) Training during fiscal year 2009

(1) In general

The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure that each member of the acquisition workforce in the Department of Homeland Security who participates personally and substantially in the acquisition of textiles on a regular basis receives training during fiscal year 2009 on the requirements of this section and the regulations implementing this section.

(2) Inclusion of information in new training programs

The Secretary shall ensure that any training program for the acquisition workforce developed or implemented after February 17, 2009, includes comprehensive information on the requirements described in paragraph (1).

(k) Consistency with international agreements

This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements.

(l) Effective date

This section applies with respect to contracts entered into by the Department of Homeland Security 180 days after February 17, 2009.

[1] So in original. No par. (2) has been enacted.

U.S. Code

§ 453b. Requirement to buy certain items related to national security interests from American sources; exceptions