HR9980Referred to Committee

American Food for American Schools Act of 2026

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-07-30
Introduced
1
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

John Garamendi
John Garamendi
Democrat · CA · Representative
Votes with party: 98.6% (579 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/G000559

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (1)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

2026-07-30

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Plain-English Summary

Schools that receive federal lunch funding would have to publicly post any waivers they receive that allow them to buy food from foreign sources instead of American suppliers. This transparency requirement would let parents, taxpayers, and local officials see when schools are exempted from the "Buy American" rule that normally requires them to prioritize domestic food purchases. The change affects school districts across the country that participate in the federal school lunch program.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Full Bill Text

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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9980 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9980 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 30, 2026 Mr. Garamendi (for himself and Mr. Gallagher) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, 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. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``American Food for American Schools Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASE OF FOREIGN COMMODITIES OR PRODUCTS. (a) Definitions.--Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection: ``(A) Domestic commodity or product.--The term `domestic commodity or product' means-- ``(i) an agricultural commodity that is produced in the United States; ``(ii) a food product that-- ``(I) is processed in the United States; and ``(II) substantially contains agricultural commodities described in clause (i); and ``(iii) fish or seafood harvested-- ``(I) within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States (as established by Presidential Proclamation 5030, dated March 10, 1983) (16 U.S.C. 1453 note); or ``(II) by a United States-flagged vessel. ``(B) Foreign commodity or product.--The term `foreign commodity or product' means a commodity or product other than a domestic commodity or product.''. (b) Requirement.--Section 12(n)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)(2)) is amended-- (1) in subparagraph (A)-- (A) by striking ``subparagraph (B)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and (C)''; and (B) by striking ``purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic'' and inserting ``purchase domestic''; (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``for the school lunch program under this Act or the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).'' and inserting the following: ``for-- ``(I) the school lunch program under this Act, including any snacks served under that program; ``(II) the summer food service program for children under section 13; ``(III) the child and adult care food program under section 17; ``(IV) the special milk program under section 3 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772); and ``(V) the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).''; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(C) Waiver.-- ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), a school food authority shall be required to request from the Secretary a waiver of subparagraph (A) before purchasing foreign commodities or products. ``(ii) Exception.--A school food authority may purchase foreign commodities or products without a waiver under clause (i) if the foreign commodities or products-- ``(I) are not produced or processed domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality; or ``(II) are not reasonably available domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality. ``(iii) Limitation.--Waivers may only be granted under clause (i) for up to 5 percent of the total annual commercial food costs of a school food authority within each food component (as defined in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)). ``(iv) Notification requirement.--A school food…
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authority that purchases foreign commodities or products under this subparagraph shall be required, not less than once each school year, to notify parents or guardians of students of the foreign commodities or products purchased. ``(v) Publicly available list of waivers.-- ``(I) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the first waiver is provided under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall establish and maintain on the website of the Department of Agriculture a publicly available list of each waiver provided under this subparagraph, which shall include information-- ``(aa)(AA) on each school food authority that has received a waiver under this subparagraph; and ``(BB) on each food product for which that school food authority received the waiver; and ``(bb) contained in each report submitted under clause (vi)(II). ``(II) Maintenance.--The Secretary shall update the list established in subclause (I)-- ``(aa) with respect to item (aa) of that subclause, not later than 90 days after a waiver is granted under this subparagraph; and ``(bb) with respect to item (bb) of that subclause, on an annual basis. ``(vi) Reports.-- ``(I) Report to state educational agency.--A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority, on an annual basis, a report detailing the categories of foreign commodities or products purchased without a waiver under clause (ii). ``(II) Report to secretary.--The State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary, on an annual basis, a report containing a compilation of the information reported to the State educational agency under subclause (I).''. (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``Paragraph (2)(A)'' and inserting ``Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2)''; and (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``Paragraph (2)(A)'' and inserting ``Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2)''. SEC. 3. BUY AMERICAN CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS. Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(5) Contracts.-- ``(A) In general.--Any contract entered into between a school food authority and a supplier for a commodity or food product for programs under this Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) after the date of enactment of this paragraph shall include a provision (referred to in this paragraph as the `covered provision') that requires the supplier to comply with the requirements of this subsection. ``(B) Reimbursement in the case of noncompliance.-- ``(i) In general.--A supplier that enters into a contract described in subparagraph (A) that does not comply with the covered provision in the contract shall be required to pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the amount of Federal funds the supplier used to purchase foreign commodities or products in noncompliance of the covered provision. ``(ii) Limitation.--Funds paid to the Secretary under clause (i) shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out subsection (m). ``(C) Use of noncompliant goods.--A school food authority that receives foreign commodities or products that were obtained in noncompliance with the covered provision in the contract of the school food authority may use those foreign commodities or products without requesting a waiver under paragraph (2)(C). ``(D) Reporting.-- ``(i) Report to state educational agency.-- A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority an annual report describing any noncompliance of a covered provision in any contract described in subparagraph (A). ``(ii) Report to secretary.--A State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary an annual report containing a compilation of each instance of noncompliance reported to the State educational agency under clause (i). ``(E) Publication.--The Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Agriculture a list of each instance of noncompliance reported to the Secretary under subparagraph (D)(ii).''. SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF BUY AMERICAN PROCUREMENT TRAINING PROGRAM. Section 12(m)(4) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(m)(4)) is amended-- (1) by striking ``$1,000,000'' and inserting ``$5,000,000''; and (2) by striking ``2010 through 2015'' and inserting ``2026 through 2031''. SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS. (a) Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.-- (1) Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended-- (A) in paragraph (3)(E)(iii), in each of subclauses (III) and (IV), by striking ``reduced-price'' each place it appears and inserting ``reduced price''; and (B) in paragraph (15)(A)(i)(II), by striking ``regulations)'' and inserting ``regulations))''. (2) Section 11(e) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(e)) is amended by striking ``reduced-priced'' and inserting ``reduced price''. (3) Section 13(a)(7)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(7)(A)(iv)) is amended by inserting ``section'' after ``under''. (4) Section 17(o)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(o)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``consulation'' and inserting ``consultation''. (5) Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769c) is amended-- (A) in subsection (a)-- (i) by striking the subsection designation and heading and all that follows through ``There'' in paragraph (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: ``(a) Unified Accountability System.--There''; and (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and indenting appropriately; and (B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a)''. (b) Child Nutrition Act of 1966.-- (1) Section 7(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking ``clause (ii)'' and inserting ``clause (ii))''. (2) Section 17(h)(4) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (7 U.S.C. 1786(h)(4)) is amended-- (A) in subparagraph (A)(vi), by striking ``and'' at the end; and (B) in subparagraph (C)(iv), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a period. SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall affect the requirements under section 4207 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 1760 note; Public Law 115-334). <all>
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