``Buy American'' Requirement

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), a Rural Development Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), hereinafter referred to as RUS or the Agency, is issuing a final rule to amend its regulations to address its ``Buy American'' requirement. This will codify long-standing RUS requirements which Agency borrowers have been required to follow pursuant to statute, bulletin, and contract as early as the 1950s. RUS will rescind Bulletin 43-9:344-3, `` `Buy American' Requirement,'' when this regulation becomes effective.