House T&I Committee Democrats Propose Tightening Buy America Requirements

Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced Thursday legislation that would strengthen Buy America requirements by requiring all materials and manufactured goods used to construct federally funded transportation and infrastructure projects be produced domestically.HR 3533, the “Invest in American Jobs Act,” would also apply these same rules to other federally backed investments such as rail infrastructure grants, loans, loan guarantees, Clean Water State Revolving Fund grants, and Economic Development Administration grants. Any possible waivers would have to be justified and explained by a federal agency to the public.

“We are here today because many Americans, still recovering from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, are desperately seeking work,” Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia and ranking minority member of the House T&I Committee, said at a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday. “The legislation we are introducing today will ensure that all future bridges and similar transportation and infrastructure projects financed by U.S. taxpayers will be stamped ‘Made in America,’ crafted with American workmanship, and will create and sustain good-paying jobs in our local communities.”

Rahall referenced the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge reconstruction, where 43,000 tons of steel was shipped to California from China to build the final component of the 2.2-mile east span. The project employed roughly 3,000 Chinese workers, which House T&I Democrats asserted could have been American jobs.

“We are no longer buying just cheap trinkets from China. We are literally buying bridges and major transportation infrastructure, while outsourcing innovation and capabilities that could be fostered and strengthened in the U.S.,” Rahall said. “This legislation will put a stop to this practice, help turn our economy around, and start to rebuild a major sector of our economy.”

The California Department of Transportation acquired 75% of the steel used on the Bay Bridge reconstruction from domestic sources, said project spokesman Bart Ney. The steel acquired from China for the east span was unavailable from any producer in the United States, he said, and waiting for additional domestic manufacturing capacity would have delayed the critical bridge reconstruction by numerous years.

Several labor union and business leaders attended Thursday’s announcement to show support for the bill including Liz Shuler, secretary/treasurer of the AFL-CIO; Stan Johnson, secretary/treasurer of United Steelworkers; and Chandra Brown, president of United Streetcar.

“As a businesswoman, I can tell you we need this bill,” Brown said. “We created the first American streetcar in decades and it was only because of the Buy America provision.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon and ranking minority member of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee, called on House Republicans to include enhanced Buy America requirements as part of the surface transportation reauthorization bill. Republican leaders had previously announced their intent to move a reauthorization bill through the lower chamber this month (see Nov. 4 AASHTO Journal story), but announced this week that effort will be postponed until next year. (see related story)

Text of the Democrats’ 64-page bill is available at bit.ly/HR3533.