March 15, 2001

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to provide for the establishment of a toll-free telephone number to assist consumers in determining whether products are American-made.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Made in America Information Act'.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER PILOT PROGRAM.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT- If the Secretary of Commerce determines, on the basis of comments submitted in the rulemaking under section 3, that--

(1) interest among manufacturers is sufficient to warrant the establishment of a 3-year toll-free telephone number pilot program; and

(2) manufacturers will provide fees under section 3(c) so that the program will operate without cost to the Federal Government,

the Secretary shall establish such program solely to help inform consumers whether a product is `Made in America'. The Secretary shall publish the toll-free telephone number by notice in the Federal Register.

(b) CONTRACT- The Secretary of Commerce shall enter into a contract for--

(1) the establishment and operation of the toll-free telephone number pilot program provided for in subsection (a); and

(2) the registration of products pursuant to regulations issued under section 3,

which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under section 3(c).

(c) USE- The toll-free telephone number shall be used solely to inform consumers as to whether products are registered under section 3 as `Made in America'. Consumers shall also be informed that registration of a product does not mean--

(1) that the product is endorsed or approved by the Government;

(2) that the Secretary has conducted any investigation to confirm that the product is a product which meets the definition of `Made in America' in section 5; or

(3) that the product contains 100 percent United States content.

SEC. 3. REGISTRATION.

(a) PROPOSED REGULATION- The Secretary of Commerce shall propose a regulation--

(1) to establish a procedure under which the manufacturer of a product may voluntarily register such product as complying with the definition of `Made in America' in section 5 and have such product included in the information available through the toll-free telephone number established under section 2(a);

(2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to cover all the costs (including start-up costs) of registering products and including registered products in information provided under the toll-free telephone number;

(3) for the establishment under section 2(a) of the toll-free telephone number pilot program; and

(4) to solicit views from the private sector concerning the level of interest of manufacturers in registering products under the terms and conditions of paragraph (1).

(b) PROMULGATION- If the Secretary determines based on the comments on the regulation proposed under subsection (a) that the toll-free telephone number pilot program and the registration of products is warranted, the Secretary shall promulgate such regulation.

(c) REGISTRATION FEE-

(1) IN GENERAL- Manufacturers of products included in information provided under section 2 shall be subject to a fee imposed by the Secretary of Commerce to pay the cost of registering products and including them in information provided under subsection (a).

(2) AMOUNT- The amount of fees imposed under paragraph (1) shall--

(A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be greater than the cost of registering the manufacturer's product and providing product information directly attributable to such manufacturer; and

(B) in the case of the total amount of fees, not be greater than the total amount appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for salaries and expenses directly attributable to registration of manufacturers and having products included in the information provided under section 2(a).

(3) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES-

(A) IN GENERAL- Fees collected for a fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be credited to the appropriation account for salaries and expenses of the Secretary of Commerce and shall be available in accordance with appropriation Acts until expended without fiscal year limitation.

(B) COLLECTIONS AND APPROPRIATION ACTS- The fees imposed under paragraph (1)--

(i) shall be collected in each fiscal year in an amount equal to the amount specified in appropriation Acts for such fiscal year; and

(ii) shall only be collected and available for the costs described in paragraph (2).

SEC. 4. PENALTY.

Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly registers a product under section 3 which is not `Made in America'--

(1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce may assess and collect; and

(2) shall not offer such product for purchase by the Federal Government.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this Act:

(1) MADE IN AMERICA- The term `Made in America' has the meaning given unqualified `Made in U.S.A.' or `Made in America' claims for purposes of laws administered by the Federal Trade Commission.

(2) PRODUCT- The term `product' means a product with a retail value of at least $250.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated under section 3 shall be construed to alter, amend, modify, or otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Commission Act or the opinions, decisions, rules, or any guidance issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use of unqualified `Made in U.S.A.' or `Made in America' claims in labels on products introduced, delivered for introduction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.

Passed the House of Representatives March 14, 2001.

Attest:

JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.

END