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xchrom

(108,903 posts) Wed Jan 11, 2012, 01:53 PM Jan 2012

Sept. 11 Bracelets Come From China

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/sept-11-bracelets-come-from-china.html

Transportation Security Administration officials waived “Buy American” guidelines when ordering 70,000 silicone 9/11 wristbands manufactured in China from TJM Promotions Inc., an Ocala, Florida business. Photo: TJM Promotions

For last year’s 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials wanted their workers to remember the thousands who died. So the agency bought 70,000 commemorative bracelets -- made in China.

The wristbands were among as much as $84 billion in U.S. contracts (USBOTOTA) awarded for foreign goods and services in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, mostly through exemptions from legislation designed to restrict such deals. Foreign purchases by federal agencies also included rocket launchers and machine guns from Bulgaria, as well as generic cholesterol medication for U.S. veterans that came from plants in India.

A Buy American Act from 1933 and similar measures since then have become so riddled with loopholes that some U.S. lawmakers are saying enough. Three senators proposed legislation last month to expand domestic preference rules and require agencies seeking made-in-America waivers to publish their plans on the Internet and allow time for public comment.

“A major objective of our bill is to demand accountability and ensure waivers are not being overused to allow for the purchase of foreign products when there is a quality, American- made alternative available,” U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat sponsoring the legislation, said in an e- mailed statement.