U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Calls on President Trump to Keep His Promise and Support Strong Buy America Reforms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) this week called on President Trump to keep his promises and support their efforts to strengthen Buy America requirements in the federal surface transportation reauthorization legislation that is currently moving through Congress. Earlier this month, President Trump announced a new executive order on Buy American that again falls short of taking meaningful action to strengthen requirements for the U.S. government to purchase American-made products.

“We have both authored proposals in the Senate that, unlike your three Buy American Executive Orders, would actually require federal agencies to increase their spending on American-made products—leading to more manufacturing jobs in the United States,” the Senators wrote in their letter. “While we appreciate the attention you have brought to this issue, the American people need results. As Congress works to reauthorize our surface transportation programs, we ask that you keep your promises and publicly support our efforts to strengthen Buy America requirements in the legislation.”

In order to keep his commitment to “Buy American, Hire American,” Baldwin and Murphy outlined several key Buy America policy proposals that President Trump should support in the surface transportation legislation in order to boost American businesses and manufacturers and ensure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are spent on American-made products. The full letter to the White House is available here.

“A long-term surface transportation reauthorization bill provides the best opportunity to enhance Buy America standards. Improving these programs through statute would provide certainty for American manufacturers by making these improvements permanent,” the Senators continued. “Buy America policies ensure that the economic benefits of infrastructure investment flow to American firms and their workers—not foreign firms selling the cheapest materials available. A surface transportation bill should strengthen existing Buy America requirements to ensure that any federally supported infrastructure project uses iron, steel, manufactured goods, and commodity construction materials that are produced in the United States.”

Baldwin has repeatedly called on President Trump to back up his words with action and support her efforts to ensure our government is buying what American manufacturers make. She has also championed legislation that would strengthen Buy America requirements for the federal government in order to support American businesses, manufacturers and workers. Earlier this summer, Baldwin reintroduced her Made in America Act that identifies federal programs that fund infrastructure projects not currently subject to Buy America standards and ensures that materials used in these federal programs, including steel, iron and aluminum, are domestically produced.