A defense budget bill containing an amendment that would protect shoe manufacturing jobs in Maine appears headed for approval following passage in the House late Wednesday..

U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-2nd District pushed to add language to the National Defense Authorization Act that would ensure the Defense Department fully complies with the Berry Amendment, which requires the military to buy U.S.-made apparel for recruits, according to a news release Thursday from Poliquin’s office.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin holds a New Balance sneaker last month while addressing the state Republican convention in Bangor. Poliquin's language forcing the Department of Defense to buy U.S.-made athletic shoes was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017, the department's budget. It passed late Wednesday in the House. Portland Press Herald file photo by Ben McCanna

U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is pushing for language in the Senate that forces the Department of Defense to buy U.S.-made athletic shoes. Portland Press Herald file photo by John Ewing

The amendment would provide a boost to Boston-based New Balance, which makes the only athletic shoe expected to meet the Berry Amendment’s requirements. The company manufactures shoes at three factories in Maine.

The Senate’s version of the defense bill was passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee last week and is expected to go to the full Senate next week.

The Defense Department has been giving military recruits vouchers to buy athletic shoes of their choosing rather than U.S.-made athletic shoes because no American manufacturer was making shoes that comply with Berry requirements. The new language would require the military to buy athletic shoes for military recruits, something the Pentagon had agreed to in 2014 but had yet to comply with.

Maine’s congressional delegation, including Poliquin’s predecessor, Democrat Mike Michaud, has pushed for the change for years.

Boston-based New Balance has shoe manufacturing operations in Skowhegan, Norridgewock and Norway that employ about 900 workers. New Balance developed a shoe last year that the company says is made from the required amount of U.S.-supplied materials. While New Balance is one of the few athletic shoe manufacturers that makes shoes in the U.S., much of the material used is from other countries.

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, last week announced he had secured the provision in the Senate’s version of the authorization act. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had introduced standalone legislation earlier aimed at passing the same language.

“This amendment is a huge victory for the hardworking men and women in Skowhegan, Norridgewock, and Norway who have worked day in and day out to make some of the best, highest-quality athletic shoes available,” King said in a statement at the time. “Our government should be doing all it can to advance policies that support them – not ship their jobs overseas.”

Matt LeBretton, vice president of public affairs for New Balance, could not be reached for comment Thursday. But in a statement last week released jointly with King, LeBretton called the provision “a monumental victory for New Balance and for Maine.”

“At the end of the day, this will mean jobs for Maine people,” he said.

Poliquin’s language in the House bill will “help American manufacturers, providing our military recruits with the best equipment available, and ensuring that U.S. tax dollars go to U.S. workers and families, and not to workers overseas,” a statement from Poliquin’s office said Thursday morning.

Poliquin said in the release that he worked for months with colleagues from both parties, particularly Democratic Rep. Niki Tsongas, of Massachusetts, “tirelessly pushing the Pentagon to purchase American-made training shoes.” Poliquin had co-sponsored a separate bill to enforce the Berry amendment with Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

Poliquin and Tsongas instead had the language included in the defense bill last month.

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