AAFA Welcomes Announcement of The Berry Amendment Caucus

The American Apparel & Footwear Association applauds the launch of the Berry Amendment Caucus, a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives co-chaired by Representatives Pat Harrigan (R-NC) and Don Davis (D-NC).

“We are grateful to Reps. Pat Harrigan and Don Davis for their tireless support of the Berry Amendment, and for their vision in creating this important community. Recent efforts to undermine the Berry Amendment and ongoing challenges to sustainable government procurement of domestically made textiles, apparel, and footwear make the formation of this caucus extremely timely. AAFA appreciates the bipartisan group of Representatives who have been dedicated to this initiative and encourage further support from all Members of Congress whose constituents include American manufacturers, our dedicated and well-outfitted service members, and the communities they protect," said AAFA President and CEO, Steve Lamar.

The Berry Amendment has been a core element of defense government contracting for more than 85 years, supporting the employment of tens of thousands of Americans in manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. In late 2001, with the leadership of AAFA, the Berry Amendment was codified into law following an episode when Chinese-made black berets were purchased by the U.S. military. Since then, an informal coalition of industry advocates and members of Congress have worked to keep the Berry Amendment strong to ensure a steady supply of comfortable, high-quality, and high-performance uniforms and products and a warm defense industrial base to support U.S. warfighters.