Murphy Pushes US Embassies

To Buy American

WASHINGTON, DC — During a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting this week on HR 2583, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for 2012, Congressman Chris Murphy successfully passed an amendment that would apply the language of the Buy American Act to purchases made in the legislation for items used by the State Department overseas.

Currently, Buy American provisions only apply to the purchase of items that will be used within the United States, but in FY09 and FY10 alone, the Department of State spent more than $1 billion on articles, materials, and supplies manufactured outside the United States.

“At a time of high unemployment and rapid deterioration of our manufacturing sector, the US government should be doing business with American companies,” said Rep Murphy in a release. “If there is a product that the State Department needs that can be purchased from an American company, then it should be. As a general policy, that’s just common sense. This committee stood with American manufacturers today, and I urge my colleagues in the House to do the same.”

Rep Murphy’s amendment would apply the Buy American Act to purchases overseas unless the item is needed urgently and there is not an American supplier available.

Rep Murphy has previously attempted to remove exemptions for purchases used overseas in Department of Defense funding authorization bills, and last year sponsored the 21st Century Buy American Act, which would remove the automatic overseas exemption.