[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1193 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1193
To prioritize United States contractors with respect to federally
funded infrastructure projects, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 24, 2023
Mr. Nehls (for himself and Mr. Garamendi) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prioritize United States contractors with respect to federally
funded infrastructure projects, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Preferences for Building
America Act''.
SEC. 2. PRIORITY FOR UNITED STATES CONTRACTORS.
(a) Requirements With Respect to Certain Contract Awardees.--
(1) In general.--Amounts made available through a program
for Federal financial assistance may be obligated for an
infrastructure project with a value of $100,000,000 or more
only if the recipient of such amounts certifies that, in
obligating the amounts--
(A) subject to the occurrence of adequate
competition, the recipient shall award contracts only
to--
(i) United States persons; and
(ii) qualified United States joint
ventures; and
(B) the recipient shall not award contracts to an
entity that is owned or controlled by, is a subsidiary
of, or is otherwise related legally or financially to a
corporation based in a covered country.
(2) Exception.--For purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the term
``otherwise related legally or financially'' does not include a
minority relationship or investment.
(b) Limitation on Subcontracting.--With respect to a project
described in subsection (a)(1) that is funded in whole or in part by
Federal financial assistance, a prime contractor and any subcontractor
of such prime contractor, at any tier, may enter into a subcontract
related to such project only with a United States person or qualified
United States joint venture.
(c) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall establish, for purposes of this section--
(1) procedures for determining whether bids or proposals
for contracts are submitted by a United States person or a
qualified United States joint venture; and
(2) requirements for record retention and reporting.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit a recipient of Federal financial assistance from
awarding a contract under a State or Federal program that supports
disadvantaged business enterprises, including such a program that
supports women business owners or minority business owners.
(e) Consistency With International Agreements.--This section shall
be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under
international agreements.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Adequate competition.--The term ``adequate
competition'' means the submission of responsive bids from 2 or
more qualified bidders that are United States persons or
qualified United States joint ventures.
(2) Covered country.--The term ``covered country'' means a
country that--
(A) is identified, as of the date of the enactment
of this section, as a nonmarket economy country (as
defined in section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930
(19 U.S.C. 1677(18)));
(B) was identified by the United States Trade
Representative in the most recent report required by
section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2242)
as a foreign country included on the priority watch
list defined in subsection (g)(3) of that section; and
(C) is subject to monitoring by the Trade
Representative under section 306 of the Trade Act of
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416).
(3) Federal agency; federal financial assistance;
infrastructure; project.--The terms ``Federal agency'',
``Federal financial assistance'', ``infrastructure'', and
``project'' have the meanings given such terms in section 70912
of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (41 U.S.C. 8301
note).
(4) Qualified united states joint venture.--The term
``qualified United States joint venture'' means a joint venture
in which not less than 51 percent of the assets of the joint
venture are owned by United States persons.
(5) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means a person that--
(A) is incorporated or legally organized under the
laws of the United States or a jurisdiction located
within the United States and has been so incorporated
or organized for not less than 5 years before the date
on which an invitation is issued for bids or proposals
with respect to the relevant contract;
(B) has its principal place of business in the
United States;
(C) has previously performed services within the
United States that are similar in complexity and type
to the services required for the relevant contract;
(D) has within the United States the technical and
financial resources necessary to perform the relevant
contract; and
(E) employs individuals who are citizens or
residents of the United States in not less than 51
percent of--
(i) the principal management positions
located in the United States;
(ii) the permanent, full-time positions
located in the United States; and
(iii) the supervisory positions located in
the United States.
(g) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
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