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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle A—Acquisition Policy and Management.

P. L. 117-81

Joint Explanatory Statement

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall brief the congressional defense committees on the extent to which information relating to the use of domestic procurement waivers by the Department of Defense is publicly available.

Briefing on transparency for certain domestic procurement waivers (sec. 808)

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 806) that would amend section 4814 of title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to establish and maintain a publicly available website for the purpose of publishing information related to the type and reasoning for each waiver or exception granted to the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) sourcing requirements.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The agreement includes the House provision with an amendment that would require the Secretary of Defense to submit a briefing on the extent to which domestic procurement waiver information related to Department of Defense programs is publicly available. We note that there are efforts underway to make such waivers available on a public website for all executive branch agencies. Specifically, Executive Order 14005, “Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers,” released on January 25, 2021, requires the General Services Administration to develop a public website to which the status of agencies’ proposed waivers to Made in America laws, to include the Department of Defense, will be posted. We understand this website is planned to be operational in fiscal year 2022 and expect the Secretary of Defense to provide appropriate information.

H. R. 4350--House Report 117-118

Section 806--Website for Certain Domestic Procurement Waivers

This section would amend section 4814 of title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to establish and maintain a publicly available website for the purpose of publishing information related to the type and reasoning for each waiver or exception granted to the Buy American Act sourcing requirements.