Congressman Chris Murphy (D-CT) published a report yesterday detailing the failures of the Department of Defense to live up to the Buy American Act. Rep. Murphy called for reformations of the law to further encourage our Defense agencies to buy domestic:

Instead of looking inward and investing in United States manufacturers, DoD has been too quick to look for ways to get around the Buy American Act.   We need to reform our procurement regime, refocus on job creation, and reverse the current trend that leads to outsourcing American jobs.

The statistics contained in the report are startling:

• The DoD issued 38,498 waivers to the Buy American Act last year and 161,711 over the last four years.
• Funding sent abroad totals $53.5 billion and, according to some estimates, has cost us as many as 620,000 jobs in America.
• According to the report, 92% of waivers since 2007 were allowed due to the international obligations and the “outside the U.S.” loophole.