10 U.S.C. § 2631: Preference for United States vessels in transporting supplies by sea

a vessel belonging to the United States; or a vessel of the United States (as such term is defined in section 116 of title 46 ). not available at a fair and reasonable rate for commercial vessels of the United States; or otherwise not available. At least once each fiscal year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit, in writing, to the appropriate congressional committees a notice of any waiver granted under this subsection and the reasons for such waiver. any reflagging or repair work on a vessel for which a proposal is submitted in response to the request for proposals be performed in the United States (including any territory of the United States); and any corrective and preventive maintenance or repair work on a vessel under contract pursuant to this section relevant to the purpose of such contract be performed in the United States (including any territory of the United States) for the duration of the contract, to the greatest extent practicable. The Secretary of Defense may waive a requirement under paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that such waiver is critical to the national security of the United States. The Secretary shall immediately submit, in writing, to the appropriate congressional committees a notice of any waiver granted under this paragraph and the reasons for such waiver. to enable the vessel to meet applicable standards to become a vessel of the United States; or to convert the vessel to a more useful military configuration. maintenance or repair actions performed as a result of a failure in order to return or restore equipment to acceptable performance levels; and scheduled maintenance or repair actions to prevent or discover functional failures. ensure that timely, accurate, and complete information on contractor performance under this section is included in any contractor past performance database used by an executive agency; and determining that a contractor is ineligible for an award of such a contract; or terminating such a contract or suspension or debarment of the contractor for such contract. the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives; the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. In order to maintain the national defense industrial base, the Secretary of Defense shall issue an acquisition policy that establishes, as a criterion required to be considered in obtaining carriage by vessel of cargo for the Department of Defense, the extent to which an offeror of such carriage had overhaul, repair, and maintenance work for covered vessels of the offeror performed in shipyards located in the United States. owned, operated, or controlled by the offeror; and qualified to engage in the carriage of cargo in the coastwise or non-contiguous trade under sections 12112 and 50501 and chapter 551 of title 46, United States Code. The acquisition policy shall include rules providing for application of the policy to covered vessels as expeditiously as is practicable based on the nature of carriage obtained, and by no later than June 1, 2007 . The Secretary shall prescribe regulations as necessary to carry out the acquisition policy and submit such regulations to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, by not later than June 1, 2007 . The Secretary may prescribe interim regulations as necessary to carry out the acquisition policy. For this purpose, the Secretary is excepted from compliance with the notice and comment requirements of section 553 of title 5 , United States Code. Upon the issuance of interim regulations under this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives the interim regulations and a description of the acquisition policy developed (or being developed) under subsection (a). All interim regulations prescribed under the authority of this paragraph that are not earlier superseded by final regulations shall expire no later than June 1, 2007 . The Secretary, acting through the United States Transportation Command, shall annually submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report regarding overhaul, repair, and maintenance performed on covered vessels of each offeror of carriage to which the acquisition policy applies. The term ‘foreign shipyard’ means a shipyard that is not located in the United States. any State of the United States; and Guam.”