LettersJuly 22, 2003 An Open Letter to Congress: "Buy American" Provisions Will Cost Taxpayers Money and Reduce Military ReadinessDear Member of Congress:
On behalf of the 350,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I
urge you to oppose each of the so-called "Buy American" provisions contained
in the House version of the 2004 Defense Authorization Bill. H.R. 1588,
as passed by the House Armed Services Committee, contains several provisions
that, if adopted, will cost taxpayers billions of dollars and reduce America's
military readiness.
The first provision is to create a $100 million Defense Industrial Base Capabilities
Fund for the purposes of establishing capabilities within the United States
to produce critical items that are now only available from foreign sources
or are available from only a limited number of U.S. contractors. Unfortunately,
according to the Information Technology Association of America, the investment
required for a U.S.-based factory to produce just the active matrix LCD screens
used in military notebook computers would be more than $1 billion. The
costs of this provision alone are likely to rise to hundreds of billions of
dollars if adopted.
Secondly, H.R. 1588 adds eight new entries to the list of products covered
by the "Berry Amendment," which requires the Pentagon to buy goods with 100
percent U.S. content and labor. Added items include: fuses used for
ordnance, microwave power tubes or traveling wave tubes, PAN carbon fiber,
aircraft tires, ground vehicle tires, tank track assemblies, tank track components,
and packaging in direct contact with food contained in meals ready-to-eat.
Also, the ability of the Secretary of Defense to delegate Berry Amendment
waivers would be dramatically reduced.
Also, contractors for major weapons acquisitions (for contracts greater than
$5 million) would be required within four years to use domestically-made machine
tools, dies, and industrial molds. Defense analysts estimate that this
provision alone could raise the price of weapons systems as much as 40 percent.
Finally, the House bill contains provisions that would increase the minimum
threshold for U.S. content to 65 percent for purchases by the Pentagon. Currently,
the Buy American Act requires 50 percent of the content to be domestically
produced.
Ultimately, America's defense planners should have the freedom to purchase
the equipment that performs best at the least cost to taxpayers. The
provisions contained in this bill will only create inefficiency and reduce
our ability to develop the weapons systems needed to fight the war on terror
and other 21st century battles.
Members of Congress can support troops as well as taxpayers by opposing the
"Buy American" restrictions in the Defense Authorization Bill.
Sincerely,
Paul J. Gessing
Director of Government Affairs
|
