'Buy American' legislation included in DoD spending bill
Courtesy / Office of U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin
U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine catches a behind the scenes glimpse at a New Balance manufacturing facility.
U.S. Reps. Bruce Poliquin of Maine and Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts were successful in including language to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Department of Defense to purchase American-made footwear for United States military personnel, which gives Boston-based footwear company New Balance and other American manufacturers a chance to compete for that work.
New Balance has 1,400 employees making footwear at five factories in New England. It has 900 workers at Maine factories in Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Norway. The remainder work in Lawrence and Brighton, Mass.
As Manebiz reported in mid-April, the legislation requires the Pentagon to adhere to the 1941 Berry Amendment, a law requiring it to purchase American-made clothing, textiles and other equipment as much as possible. Since the 2002 fiscal year, the Pentagon has circumvented that policy in relation to footwear by issuing cash allowances to new recruits for training shoes, which are not required to be American-made or compliant with the Berry Amendment.
“We have won a victory in the battle to grow and protect the 900 jobs in Skowhegan, Norridgewock and Norway where hard working Mainers manufacture the highest quality shoes in the world,” said Poliquin in a statement. “After months of working closely alongside my Democratic colleague Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and tirelessly pushing the Pentagon to purchase American-made training shoes, we are proud to announce this critical win for Maine families and jobs in our state.”
In May, the House is expected to vote on the full funding bill, but it may take until September before the measure becomes law.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have introduced similar bipartisan legislation that would require the DoD to provide initial entry servicemembers with American-made athletic shoes upon arrival at basic training.
“The bipartisan Buy American Act of 2016 is our latest effort to ensure that American workers, who can meet the footwear requirements of nearly all of our military service members, are given the opportunity to do so,” Collins said in a statement announcing the legislation
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