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

House Conference Report

SEC. 833. AMENDMENTS TO DOMESTIC SOURCE REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CLOTHING MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS COVERED.

(a) Notice- Section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(k) 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 subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of subsection (b)(1), if the Secretary of Defense or of the military department concerned applies an exception set forth in subsection (c) or (e) 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).'.

(b) Clothing Materials and Components Covered- Subsection (b) of section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, is amended in paragraph (1)(B) by inserting before the semicolon the following: `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)'.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 824) that would amend section 2533a of title 10, United States Code (known as the `Berry Amendment') to: (1) require the Secretary of Defense to notify the public when the Secretary exercises a waiver; and (2) clarify that the term `clothing' also includes `materials and components thereof, other than sensors, electronics, or other items added to, and not normally associated with, clothing'.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes.

The conferees note that section 2533a (b)(1)(B) of title 10, United States Code, as modified by this section, does not cover small arm protective inserts (`SAPI plates') for body armor because these inserts are `added to, and not normally associated with, clothing'.

 House Report 109-89

SECTION 824--AMENDMENTS TO DOMESTIC SOURCE REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO CLOTHING MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS COVERED

This section would amend section 2533a of title 10, United States Code, known as the Berry Amendment, to require the Secretary of Defense to notify the public when the Secretary exercises a waiver. In 1998 and 2002, the Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD-IG) identified multiple deficiencies in application of the Berry Amendment. In March 20, 2002, the DOD-IG report entitled `Acquisition: Buy American Act Issues on Procurements of Military Clothing' stated 60 percent of the reviewed contracts failed to include the appropriate Buy American Act or the Berry Amendment contract clause. The DOD-IG report also stated that contracting officers at 13 military installations procured military clothing and related items manufactured or produced abroad without determining whether those items were manufactured in the United States. As a result, DOD-IG estimated that $593,004 worth of items manufactured abroad may have been available from domestic suppliers. This section would prevent a repeat of this deficiency.

This section would also amend section 2533a to clarify the covered item described as clothing.