6 U.S.C. § 453b — Requirement to buy certain items related to national security interests from American sources; exceptions

(a) Requirement: Except as (c) through (g) allow, funds appropriated to or available to DHS cannot be used to buy an item described in (b) if that item isn't grown, reprocessed, reused, or made in the United States. (b) Covered items: An item under (a) is covered if it's directly related to U.S. national security, and it's: (1) (A) clothing, and its materials and components — except sensors, electronics, or other add-ons not normally part of clothing; (B) tents, tarps, covers, textile belts, bags, protective equipment (including body armor), sleeping gear, load-carrying equipment (like backpacks), textile marine equipment, parachutes, or bandages; (C) cotton and other natural fiber products, woven silk or silk blends, spun silk cartridge-cloth yarn, synthetic or coated synthetic fabric (and the fibers and yarns used in them), canvas products, or wool (as fiber, yarn, or in fabric, materials, or finished items); or (D) any equipment item made from or containing those fibers, yarns, fabrics, or materials. (c) Availability exception: (a) doesn't apply if the Secretary of Homeland Security decides the needed quality and quantity of a (b)(1) item can't be bought in the U.S., at U.S. market prices, when it's needed. This section also doesn't apply to items officially found "nonavailable" under Federal Acquisition Regulation 25.104. (d) De minimis exception: Despite (a), the Secretary may still accept an item covered by (b) that contains some non-compliant fibers, if their total value doesn't exceed 10% of the item's total purchase price. (e) Exception for certain procurements outside the United States: (a) doesn't apply to (1) purchases made by vessels in foreign waters, or (2) emergency purchases. (f) Exception for small purchases: (a) doesn't apply to purchases at or below the simplified acquisition threshold set in section 3205 of title 10. (g) Applies to commercial-product contracts too: This section applies to contracts and subcontracts for buying commercial products, despite section 1906 of title 41 — except it doesn't apply to the commercial products listed in (b)(1)(C) and (b)(1)(D). "Commercial product" here has the meaning given in section 103 of title 41. (h) Geographic coverage: "United States" here includes U.S. possessions. (i) Notification required within 7 days after a contract award, if an exception applied: If the Secretary applies the (c) exception to a contract covering a (b)(1) item, the Secretary must, within 7 days of awarding the contract, post notice of that on the FedBizOps.gov website (or its successor). (j) Training during fiscal year 2009: (1) In general — the Secretary must ensure every acquisition-workforce member who regularly and substantially helps buy textiles is trained during fiscal year 2009 on this section's requirements and its implementing regulations. (2) Inclusion in new training programs — the Secretary must ensure any acquisition-workforce training program built or used after February 17, 2009, includes full information on the requirements in (1). (k) Consistency with international agreements: This section must be applied consistently with U.S. obligations under international agreements. (l) Effective date: This section applies to contracts DHS enters into starting 180 days after February 17, 2009.