U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin, Mike Braun and Representative John Garamendi Introduce Bipartisan Reform to Strengthen Buy America Requirements for Federal Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mike Braun (R-IN) and Representative John Garamendi (D-CA) today reintroduced the Made in America Act to strengthen Buy America requirements for the federal government in order to support American businesses, manufacturers and workers.

The Made in America Act identifies federal programs that fund infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards and ensures that materials used in these federal programs are domestically produced. When setting standards to determine which materials used in construction will be considered ‘Made in America,’ the bill requires the Department of Commerce to ensure that their manufacturing process supports jobs in the US.

“We need to make a bold investment that puts people to work rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and I want to make sure that we do it by supporting American workers and American manufacturers,” said Senator Baldwin. “We should not spend taxpayer dollars on infrastructure projects that are not subject to Buy America requirements. My legislation will make sure we are buying what America makes when we rebuild our infrastructure.”

“After building a transportation and logistics company in Indiana, I know firsthand how the Made in America Act will help businesses and workers in our country,” said Senator Braun. “This legislation ensures taxpayer dollars help American business owners, which is especially important as we recover from the global pandemic.”

“Congress is poised to make the most significant investment in our nation’s infrastructure in nearly half a century. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance commonsense ‘Buy American’ and ‘Make it in America’ policies to rebuild and modernize our nation’s crumbling infrastructure with American workers and materials. This will create thousands of good-paying jobs that can never be outsourced and make America competitive in the 21st century. I am thrilled to reintroduce the Made in America Act with Senators Baldwin and Braun to ensure that taxpayer dollars support domestic manufacturing and create new opportunities to grow the American middle-class,” said Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA). 

In January, Senator Baldwin urged President Biden to use his executive authority to boost the economy by directing all federal agencies to maximize the amount of American-made materials and products purchased by the federal government. During his first week in office, President Biden announced executive action to strengthen Buy America policies to support manufacturers, businesses and workers to ensure that our future is made in America by all of America’s workers. The Made In America Act would build on this progress by identifying federal programs that provide funding or financial assistance to infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America requirements, and requiring that those projects use American-made materials and support American workers and manufacturers.

The Made in America Act is supported by AFL-CIO, IBEW, BRS (Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen), United Steelworkers, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the American Foundry Society, the Wisconsin Cast Metals Association, the Forging Industry Association, the Non-Ferrous Founders Society, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC).

Wisconsin businesses and manufacturers are voicing strong support for the Made in America Act including: Neenah Foundry, Grey Iron Foundry, The CA Lawton Co., De Pere Foundry, Green Bay Drop Forge, Walker Forge, Inc., Precision Thermal Processing, Felker Brothers, Supreme Manufacturing, Scot Forge, Wrought Washer Manufacturing, Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, and Eck Industries, Inc.

“Buy America shouldn’t be a partisan idea, but one that elicits support from folks on both sides of the aisle. Simply put, using American-made products for federal infrastructure products makes sense. At the C.A. Lawton Co. we’ve worked hard to build a reputation that our customers trust. It’s time for Washington do the same and step up to the plate and deliver for our nation’s workers and manufacturers and prove that commonsense legislation can still get passed. We appreciate Senator Baldwin and her staff for being willing to listen to the input of Wisconsin businesses and for being a champion of our Made in Wisconsin economy,” said Alex Lawton, CEO of The C.A. Lawton Company in De Pere, Wisconsin.

“Wisconsin’s workers and manufacturers are some of the best in the world and can compete with anyone. Extending Buy America requirements ensures taxpayer dollars are being used to buy domestic steel, aluminum and manufactured products. At Scot Forge, we appreciate Tammy Baldwin putting our employee owners first and allowing us to compete with foreign competitors on a level playing field,” said John Cain, CEO and Board Chairman at Scot Forge in Clinton, Wisconsin.

This legislation complements other Buy America legislation that Senator Baldwin has introduced, including:

·      TheMade in America Shipbuilding Act (S. 2731) strengthens Buy American requirements for thefederal government’s purchase of ships by expanding current law to cover all federal agencies, all classes of ships andsubstantially moreshipboard components, including items made in Wisconsin.

·      TheMade in America Water Infrastructure Act requires that 100 percent American-made iron andsteelisusedinwaterinfrastructureprojects fundedby theDrinking WaterState RevolvingFund (DWSRF).The DrinkingWater State Revolving Fund is a federal-state partnership that acts as an infrastructure bank to help ensure safe drinkingwater all 50 statesand territories.

More information on the legislation is available here. Text of the legislation is available here.

An online version of this release 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.