A Government Accountability Office report released Nov. 21, 2017, found that 58 percent of the value of uniform items the Department of Homeland Security ordered under its main uniforms contract came from foreign sources, even though a 2009 law restricts the department’s purchases of foreign textiles.
The rule
The Kissell Amendment, passed as part of the 2009 stimulus law, bars DHS from spending funds on certain national-security textiles that are not grown, reprocessed, reused or produced in the USA. According to GAO, the Congressional Record describes it as an effort to extend parts of the Berry Amendment, which governs Pentagon textile buying, to DHS.
Why it has little effect
- It applies only to purchases above the $150,000 simplified acquisition threshold.
- It must be applied consistently with USA trade agreements, which require most DHS offices to treat certain textiles from 128 countries the same as domestic products.
- For most of DHS, that leaves only purchases between $150,000 and the $191,000 World Trade Organization threshold restricted.
- The Transportation Security Administration is excluded from most of those agreements, so the rule blocks its textile purchases above $150,000 from all but three foreign countries.
The numbers
Under the uniforms contract DHS signed in September 2014, the department ordered $164.6 million in uniform items through June 2017. About $96 million came from 12 foreign countries, and Mexico was the largest source at 30 percent by value. The Washington Times, citing the report, said 46 percent of Secret Service textiles and nearly 70 percent of TSA uniforms came from Mexico.
The New York Times followed up on Nov. 24, noting that the uniforms of Secret Service agents guarding the president were most likely made in Mexico.
FAQ
What is the Kissell Amendment?
A 2009 restriction on DHS buying certain national-security textiles that are not made in the USA.
How much of DHS uniform spending was foreign?
58 percent of $164.6 million ordered from October 2014 to June 2017.
Why is the effect limited?
Trade-agreement obligations and dollar thresholds leave only a narrow range of purchases covered for most of DHS.
Source & credit
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office: GAO-18-116, “Government Procurement: Effect of Restriction on DHS’s Purchasing of Foreign Textiles Is Limited”, Nov. 21, 2017.
Also: The Washington Times: “Nearly half of DHS uniforms bought south of the border”; The New York Times: “Why ‘Made in America’ Is Stitched Into the Law, but Not the Uniforms”.