H.R. 1185 115th Congress House

Retain Act

Official title: To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods and services in… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend titles 10 and 41, United States Code, to provide a contracting preference for contractors that retain American jobs and purchase goods and services in the United States, and for other purposes.

Introduced: May 17, 2017 See on congress.gov

Government Operations and Politics Buy American requirementsCongressional oversightFraud offenses and financial crimesIndustrial facilities

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ManufacturingMilitary procurement, research, weapons developmentPublic contracts and procurementUnemployment

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Feb 16, 2017

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 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.

Feb 16, 2017

Introduced in House

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Latest action February 16, 2017

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Retain Act

This bill requires an executive agency to give a contracting preference to an offeror that certifies it will retain jobs performed in the United States and use products substantially manufactured in, and services provided in, the United States for the contract.

To be eligible, an offeror shall certify that it:

has not relocated jobs from the United States to foreign countries in the preceding five years,
has not established foreign facilities to perform the same function that could have been performed in the United States with the intention of manufacturing or providing the same service and importing the same product or service back to the United States,
will not relocate jobs from the United States to foreign countries during the contract period, and
will use U.S. products and services under the contract.

An executive agency may except an offeror from such requirements if:

the products needed for the contract are not manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and are not of satisfactory quality;
there is an unreasonable cost associated with the use of products substantially manufactured in, or services provided in, the United States; and/or
the use of such products would be inconsistent with the public interest.

If an agency determines that a contractor has submitted a false statement or violated any of the certification requirements, it shall terminate the contract and the contractor may not receive the preference for at least five years.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be revised to implement the requirements of this bill.

Bill text 1 version