WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Angus King, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Susan Collins introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to ensure U.S. troops are wearing high quality, safe and reliable footwear as part of their uniforms, according to a July 8 news release.

Maine District 2 Representative Jared Golden, a Marine Corps. combat veteran and member of the House Armed Services Committee, is an original sponsor of companion legislation in the House.

The BOOTS Act would expand current uniform regulations to ensure the combat boots worn by servicemembers are entirely manufactured in America and made with U.S.-sourced materials, "thus strengthening our national security and creating good-paying jobs," the release said. 

“Our military depends on the availability, accessibility, safety and quality of the uniforms worn by our servicemembers,” said Senator King. “The bipartisan BOOTS Actwill ensure that all combat boots and parts worn by the American military are made in the USA—both boosting our domestic economy and ensuring the safety of the boots supply chain. Thank you to my colleagues for putting our servicemembers first.” 

“Requiring our servicemembers’ combat boots to be produced in the United States with American materials improves military readiness and strengthens our defense industrial base,” said Senator Collins. “This bipartisan bill would help avoid supply disruptions in times of crisis, create more jobs and investment domestically, and better outfit our nation’s troops.”

“American warfighters should be supplied American gear, including footwear,” said Representative Golden. “Ensuring domestic suppliers are first in line to provide equipment to our service members is good for troops, good for the jobs, and good for domestic manufacturing. I’m proud to cosponsor the BOOTs Act to provide American-made footwear to the men and women who volunteer to defend America.” 

The BOOTS Act would mandate that all optional combat boots worn by U.S. military servicemembers are Berry Amendment-compliant, or 100 percent made in the United States with U.S.-sourced materials.

The current loophole has allowed for a major increase in low quality, foreign-made boots and has led to a significant decline in demand from American companies, which in turn reduces domestic manufacturing capabilities and undermines the domestic defense supply chain, the release said. In the event of a major conflict, the current clothing and textile supply chain would be too fragile to meet demand. 

This legislation is endorsed by A&E, American Sole, Belleville Boot Co., Draper Knitting, Emtex Global, G-Form, Glacial Lakes Rubber and Plastics, Grassland Stamping, Hope Global Manufacturing, Mississippi TanTec, McRae Footwear, Meramec, Meridian, Milliken, New Balance Athletics, PolyLabs, Rubberlite, Signet Mills, SX Industries, Thorogood, Unifi, Vibram Corporation, W.L. Gore and Associates, Worthen Industries, YKK USA, American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), U.S. Footwear Manufacturers Association (USFMA) and Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC).

“The BOOTs Act closes a gap in the Berry Amendment by requiring all military footwear sold through Department of Defense exchanges to be domestically sourced. Currently, foreign-made boots undermine military readiness and disadvantage American manufacturers, weakening the U.S. supply chain. This commonsense change ensures uniform consistency, reduces confusion for servicemembers, and supports the domestic industrial base as manufacturers rebuild capacity,” said Bill McCann, Executive Director of the United States Footwear Manufactures Association.