Baldwin, Banks Introduce Bill to Enforce Build America, Buy America Standards
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jim Banks (R-IN) are introducing a new bill to prioritize American workers and businesses by ensuring strong Buy America rules are properly enforced when rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.
Senator Baldwin worked to include the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to require federal agencies to strengthen Buy America policies and close loopholes to ensure that federal investments support American businesses and workers. Years after passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, many departments and agencies have partially or fully avoided BABA implementation for certain infrastructure programs. As a result, American taxpayer money continues to be spent to buy foreign products, supporting jobs overseas.
To fix this, Baldwin and Banks are introducing the Build America, Buy America Compliance Act to finally ensure that the federal government is fully and consistently applying Buy America across federal infrastructure programs.
“To me, this is straightforward: When we use American tax dollars, we should be investing those dollars back into American workers, products, and businesses,” said Senator Baldwin. “I am proud to work with my Republican colleague to create some real transparency and accountability to ensure that Buy America laws are followed and American workers and American companies get the business they deserve.”
“Our bill is common sense legislation that puts American workers and businesses first. It makes sure your tax dollars support American manufacturers and not foreign adversaries like China,” said Senator Banks.
Specifically, the Build America, Buy America Compliance Act would:
- Require the head of each Federal agency to submit an annual report to the Made in America Office and Congress detailing implementation of the BABA Act. The report must identify all Federal financial assistance programs for infrastructure and specify which have fully implemented the BABA Act and which have not.
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- For programs that have fully implemented BABA Act, agencies must describe all actions taken to comply with the law and maintain existing Buy America laws, policies, or regulations that meet or exceed its requirements.
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- For programs that have not fully implemented BABA Act, agencies must provide a timeline and steps they will take to achieve full compliance, including efforts to replace broad, general applicability waivers with targeted, project-specific waivers wherever possible.
- Require that all reports be published in the Federal Register to ensure transparency and accountability.
Senator Baldwin has long led the charge in advocating for stronger Buy America standards to support American businesses and workers. In the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Baldwin successfully worked to include the BABA Act and provisions of her Made in America Act. Last December, Senator Baldwin called on the Trump Administration to follow through on its pledge to prioritize American workers and businesses by enforcing stronger Buy America standards.
In January of 2025, Senator Baldwin pushed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee to commit to enforcing Buy America laws.
The bill is supported by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and the United Steelworkers (USW).
“The Build America, Buy America Act was enacted in 2021 to ensure taxpayers’ dollars spent on infrastructure strengthen U.S. supply chains and support America’s workers. But that promise only works if the law is fully and consistently implemented across federal programs. As we approach the five-year anniversary of this important law, AAM applauds Senators Baldwin and Banks for bringing transparency and accountability to the process by requiring agencies to clearly identify where Buy America requirements are being applied and where they are not,” said Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
A one-pager on the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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