119-hr4159

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4159 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4159

To require the Secretary of Defense to issue regulations requiring that 
optional combat boots worn by members of the Armed Forces wear be made 
 in America, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 26, 2025

 Ms. Budzinski (for herself, Mr. Bost, and Mr. Golden of Maine) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require the Secretary of Defense to issue regulations requiring that 
optional combat boots worn by members of the Armed Forces wear be made 
 in America, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO COMBAT FOOTWEAR OF MEMBERS OF ALL 
 BRANCHES OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 730 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue regulations 
prohibiting any member of the armed forces from wearing optional combat 
boots as part of a required uniform unless the optional combat boots 
are entirely manufactured in the United States and entirely made of--

    (1) materials grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in 
 the United States; and

    (2) components that are manufactured entirely in the United 
 States and entirely made of materials described in paragraph

    (1) .

    (b) Availability Exemption.--

    (1) In general.--A Secretary concerned may make a 
 determination described in subsection
            (c) of 

section 4862 of 
 title 10, United States Code, with respect to optional combat 
 boots designed for a specific use and a specific need of the 
 Department of Defense in the same manner as an article or item 
 under subsection

    (a) of such section.

    (2) Applicability.--If a Secretary concerned makes a 
 determination described in paragraph

    (1) with respect to 
 optional combat boots designed for a specific use and a 
 specific need of the Department of Defense, the Secretary 
 concerned may waive the prohibition under subsection

    (a) with 
 respect to such optional combat boots designed for a specific 
 use to the extent necessary to meet such need.
            (c) Medical Exemption.--The prohibition under subsection

    (a) shall 
not apply to the wearing of optional combat boots by a member of the 
armed forces if such optional combat boots are medically necessary to 
meet a unique physiological need of such member of the armed forces.
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Armed forces; secretary concerned.--The terms ``armed 
 forces'' and ``Secretary concerned'' have the meanings given 
 such terms, respectively, in 

section 101

    (a) of title 10, United 
 States Code.

    (2) Optional combat boots.--The term ``optional combat 
 boots'', with respect to a member of the armed forces, means 
 combat boots not furnished to such member of the armed forces 
 by the Secretary of Defense.

    (3) Required uniform.--The term ``required uniform'' means 
 a uniform a member of the armed forces is required to wear as a 
 member of the armed forces.
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