The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved a provision expanding opportunities for U.S. contractors bidding on international military construction projects within the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility. Included in the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, the provision championed by Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) specifically expands the American Preference Policy to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the U.A.E., Uzbekistan and Yemen. As it stands, Turkish and Chinese construction firms receive a majority of U.S. military construction awards in the aforementioned countries.
In 1984, Congress enacted the American Preference Policy to increase opportunities for U.S. contractors bidding on projects in the American territories of the Pacific and on Kwajalein Island. This law allowed a 20 percent bid evaluation preference on projects that exceeded $1 million between the bids of U.S. contractors and foreign contractors before the foreign contractor’s price would be treated favorably. The American Preference Policy was expanded 14 years later in response to similar concerns in the face of declining American bidders on U.S. government-funded projects bordering the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
Action now moves to the Senate, where this provision faces stiff resistance from Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee. AGC will continue to strongly advocate in favor of this provision’s enactment.
For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.
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