Within the last week, three bills have been introduced in the U.S. Congress that aim to bolster the U.S. textile and apparel industry.
ATTIRE Act
The American Textile Technology Innovation and Research for Exportation (ATTIRE) Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. David Price, D-N.C., and Howard Coble, R-N.C., would create a $5 million competitive grant program at the Department of Commerce to fund textile research and innovation and boost textile exports. Eligible recipients would include colleges and universities as well as not-for-profit research institutes that are involved in high-tech textile research and development projects.

"The textile industry contributes $60 billion to our national economy every year, and it employs over 500,000 workers across the country," said Rep. Price. "The ATTIRE Act will help keep these jobs here, ensuring this critical domestic industry out-innovates its international competitors by funding research into the next generation of textile and fiber technologies."

Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC), endorsed the bill, saying, "Staying at the forefront of research and development is the lifeblood for maintaining the competitiveness of the U.S. textile industry. ... Federal research funding for textiles has been the seed corn contributing to the innovation of products and manufacturing processes that not only have put tens of thousands of Americans to work, but have improved our country's overall quality of life."

DOD Textile and Apparel Procurement Fairness Act
The Department of Defense (DOD) Textile and Apparel Procurement Fairness Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Larry Kissell, D-N.C., would limit DOD apparel and textile-based military equipment purchases from Federal Prison Industries Inc. (FPI) to 5 percent of market share of any product.

FPI was created in 1934 by executive order as a self-sustaining, self-funded enterprise to offer job skills training to federal prisoners through a voluntary work program. The clothing and textiles sector is one among a range of industrial sectors in which the program is active.

The bill has received strong support from the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), Arlington, Va., which says the 5-percent limit on FPI contracts would lead to an increase in the amount of business that would go to U.S. textile and apparel manufacturers in the private sector.