HR 8656 — Ballistic Armor Made in America Act of 2026

Summary

This bill requires the National Institute of Justice to collect and publish information about where ballistic-resistant body armor and its fibers are manufactured and sourced. Products that contain ballistic fibers produced outside the United States cannot be marked as "Made in America." The bill prohibits the Department of Justice from purchasing ballistic-resistant body armor containing non-domestic ballistic fibers, with limited exceptions when domestic products are unavailable at comparable market prices or meet certain compliance standards. The bill also requires federal law enforcement training centers to provide educational programs to state and local agencies receiving Justice Department grants for body armor about these disclosure and sourcing requirements.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3] (R-LA)

6 cosponsors

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Clay Higgins’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

NULL $14,100
SAFESOURCE DIRECT $10,500
THE PICARD GROUP $8,300
WINN CORRECTIONAL $6,666
PHI, INC. $6,600

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Clay Higgins → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)

May 4, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
May 4, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 4, 2026

Mr. Higgins of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Harrigan, and Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To require the Department of Justice to procure ballistic-resistant body armor manufactured using domestic ballistic fibers.

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 “Ballistic Armor Made in America Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. RULES RELATED TO PROCUREMENT OF BALLISTIC-RESISTANT BODY ARMOR.

(a) Required Disclosure of Source of Materials.—

(1) Disclosure.—Beginning not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall require any entity, including a company or manufacturer, that submits or has submitted ballistic-resistant body armor to the National Institute of Justice’s Compliance Testing Program to disclose each country where such armor is manufactured and where ballistic fibers contained in such armor are grown, reprocessed, reused, recycled, or produced.

(2) Publication.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall—

(A) add as a part of the information listed for each ballistic-resistant body armor model on the compliant products list, including any ballistic- resistant armor model on the compliant product list prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, each disclosure required under paragraph (1); and

(B) update, as soon as reasonably possible and in not more than 30 days, the compliant products list each time ballistic-resistant body armor model has been certified by the National Institute of Justice as meeting the latest standard for such armor.

(3) Made in america.—No product listed on the compliant products list that discloses ballistic fibers grown, reprocessed, reused, recycled, or produced outside of the United States of America may use any markings, symbols or other language related to the designation of “Made in America”.

(4) Emerging technologies.—The Director of the National Institute of Justice shall determine if the requirements under paragraphs (1) through (3) shall apply to any advanced materials used to replace ballistic fibers in the manufacturing of ballistic-resistant body armor.

(b) Prohibition on Procurement From Outside of the United States.—

(1) In general.—Chapter 31 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 509B the following: “Sec. 509C. Domestic Sourcing Requirement for Department Procurements

“(a) Prohibition.—The Attorney General may not use funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Department of Justice for the procurement of ballistic-resistant body armor if such armor is manufactured from or contains ballistic fibers that are grown, reprocessed, reused, recycled, or produced outside of the United States.

“(b) Exceptions.—The prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply if the Attorney General determines that ballistic-resistant body armor manufactured from or containing ballistic fibers that are grown, reprocessed, reused, recycled, or produced in the United States cannot be procured as and when needed at United States market prices or if the ballistic fibers have been found to be in compliance with the section 4862 of title 10, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘Berry Amendment’) and section 604 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (6 U.S.C. 453b) (commonly known as the ‘Kissel Amendment’).

“(c) Definition.—In this section:

“(1) Ballistic-resistant body armor.—The term ‘ballistic- resistant body armor’ means an item of personal protective equipment, consisting of hard armor or soft armor, that is intended to protect the wearer from threats, including ballistic threats, stabbing, fragmentation, and blunt impact.

“(2) Hard armor.—The term ‘hard armor’ means an item of personal protective equipment that is constructed of rigid materials and is used in the composition of ballistic-resistant body armor.

“(3) Soft armor.—The term ‘soft armor’ means an item of personal protective equipment constructed of pliable or flexible materials and is used in the composition of ballistic- resistant body armor.”.

(2) Clerical amendment.—The table of contents for chapter 31 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 509B the following:

“509C. Domestic Sourcing Requirement for Department Procurements.”.

(c) Know Before You Buy Training.—The Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers shall provide an educational training program for any State or local governmental entity that has applied for or has received a grant from the Department of Justice to purchase ballistic-resistant body armor regarding the disclosure requirement under subsection (a)(1).

(d) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) Ballistic-resistant body armor.—The term “ballistic- resistant body armor” means an item of personal protective equipment, consisting of hard armor or soft armor, that is intended to protect the wearer from threats, including ballistic threats, stabbing, fragmentation, and blunt impact.

(2) Compliant products list.—The term “compliant products list”means the official list of ballistic-resistant body armor that have been certified by the National Institute of Justice and is published as the “Compliant Products List: Ballistic Resistant Armor” (or a subsequent list) on the internet website of the Department of Justice.

(3) Hard armor.—The term “hard armor” means an item of personal protective equipment that is constructed of rigid materials and is used in the composition of ballistic-resistant body armor.

(4) Soft armor.—The term “soft armor” means an item of personal protective equipment constructed of pliable or flexible materials and is used in the composition of ballistic- resistant body armor. <all>

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