Murphy touts bill for BuyAmerican.gov

Legislation designed to improve military buy-American compliance

Jamie Gregg recalls being shocked to hear that the U.S. Air Force obtained a waiver to buy brass towel racks from an overseas supplier — even though Gregg’s company, Colonial Bronze, makes the exact same thing at its Torrington factory.

“If they Googled ‘brass towel bars’ our name would have come right up,” said Gregg, whose grandfather and great uncle started the company in 1927 in the Bronx and moved it to Torrington three years later. “The Air Force couldn’t have done due diligence.”

Colonial Bronze, with 48 employees, does zero business with the Department of Defense, Gregg said.

“Had we gotten (the Air Force contract), it would have represented a substantial amount of business,” he said.

Gregg learned of the Air Force waiver for construction of a barracks building in Alaska from the office of then-Rep. Chris Murphy, now Sen. Murphy, D-Conn.

His company became a “poster child,” he said, for the buy-American cause, something Murphy has pushed ever since coming to Capitol Hill in 2007.

“Buy America” — government preference for U.S. suppliers — has been on the books for decades. The law requires an exhaustive search for U.S. manufacturers and permits waivers only when products are unavailable domestically. But tracking what contracts are available prior to the issuance of waivers has proven nearly impossible.”

— Sen. Murphy, D-Conn

Website of suppliers

On Friday, Murphy appeared in Waterbury to pledge introduction of a bill to create BuyAmerican.gov, which would give prospective contractors an easy, one-stop resource to survey government agency purchasing needs before the agencies obtain waivers.

“An easily searchable website would let Connecticut manufacturers be sure they’re getting a shot at these contracts,” said Murphy, who is on the Senate

Appropriations military construction subcommittee.

Especially at DOD, “there is a culture of ‘Buy-American’ non-compliance,” he said. “It’s stunning.”

The Department of Defense has spent almost $200 billion on manufactured goods made by foreign companies since 2007 — a time in which the U.S. manufacturing sector was in sharp decline. A DOD inspector general’s audit last month found the military’s main purchaser, the Defense Logistics Agency, failed to find available suppliers for 19 contracts — valued at $453.2 million — out of 32 contracts reviewed.

Colonial Bronze specializes in brass products, Gregg said. The fact that “bronze” is in the name is an anomaly dating back to its early years, he explained.

The company is not the only one in Connecticut that has lost out to foreign sources. Ansonia Copper & Brass had to close down in 2013 after the U.S. Navy began relying on foreign suppliers. At its height, it employed 10,000.

‘There has been lax enforcement’

Murphy attributed the military’s infatuation with foreign purchases to the

conflicting aims of procuring high-quality precision products at the lowest possible cost.

“DOD is being told to produce weapons and equipment at a lower cost, not save U.S. jobs,” Murphy said. “So there has been lax enforcement.”

Gregg said his brass products are on average 10-12 percent more expensive than imports from foreign competitors clustered in China and India. But, he insisted, the extra cost is worth it, because his company complies with environmental laws, uses recycled materials and guarantees its products.

“Buy America” — government

preference for U.S. suppliers — has been on the books for decades. The law requires an exhaustive search for U.S. manufacturers and permits waivers only when products are unavailable domestically.

But tracking what contracts are available prior to the issuance of waivers has proven nearly impossible, Murphy said. If a contractor can even find the information in the first place, it is usually months after the waivers have been issued.

BuyAmerican.gov would provide the contractor with information before waivers are granted, Murphy said.

Murphy said he has enlisted the support and cooperation

of the Trump administration, an odd alliance considering Murphy’s strident criticism of President Trump.

In April, the White House issued an executive order to beef up enforcement of “Buy America” regulations that Murphy applauded.

“This is a narrow but important source of agreement between me and White House,” Murphy said. “Admittedly, this is a rare case of their rhetoric meeting my legislative agenda. I’ve been a critic of the president but that hasn’t prevented cooperation on legislation, when possible.”