Garamendi, Congressional Labor Caucus Call on Secretary Buttigieg to Fully Implement ‘Buy American’ Requirements for Highway Projects
Urges Biden Administration to Repeal 1983 Waiver for Manufactured Products
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, U.S. Representative John Garamendi (D-CA-08) and members of the Congressional Labor Caucus called on U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to fully implement the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by requiring that all manufactured products used in federally funded highway, road, bridge, tunnel, ferry terminal, railroad, and wildlife crossings, rest stops, electric vehicle charging stations and alternative fuels stations, scenic byways, recreational trails, bike paths, and walkways be made in the United States.
“As President Biden said in his State of the Union, we need to finish the job. After decades of failed promises, we are Making it in America by rebuilding and modernizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure with American-made construction materials and equipment. Ensuring that taxpayer dollars support domestic manufacturing and skilled union workers will create thousands of good-paying jobs that can never be outsourced and keep the United States competitive in the 21st century. Hardworking Americans are ready, willing, and able to do the job. My Democratic colleagues and I look forward to Secretary Buttigieg taking on this challenge,” said Garamendi.
A senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Garamendi has long championed a “Make It In America” agenda in Congress to bring back good-paying manufacturing jobs and help rebuild the middle class by ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are spent on goods made by American workers.
Garamendi cosponsored the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included a key provision from his bipartisan Made in America Act with U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Mike Braun (R-IN) requiring that all construction materials in federally funded infrastructure projects be made in the United States.
Cosigners: U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Christopher Deluzio (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Daniel T. Kildee (D-MI)
Electronic Copy of Letter: Click Here
Full Text of Letter:
Dear Secretary Buttigieg:
We write urging you to fully implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) by rescinding the Federal Highway Administration’s longstanding waiver of “Buy America” requirements for manufactured products in federal-aid highway projects.
In 1978, Congress required (Public Law 95-599) that all manufactured products used in federal-aid highway projects be produced in the United States. In 1983, however, the Federal Highway Administration finalized a rule waiving this requirement indefinitely for nearly all manufactured products. As a result, domestic manufacturers have lost out on four decades of government business to foreign competitors supplying highway projects funded by American drivers who pay the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel.
In January 2021, President Biden’s first executive order (E.O. 14005) directed all federal departments and agencies to maximize the use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States. On January 21, 2021, you committed in your confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to “adjust, change, or perhaps rescind” the Federal Highway Administration’s 1983 waiver for manufactured products. On March 25, 2021, you recommitted before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that you would take a “hard look” at rescinding the Federal Highway Administration’s 1983 waiver.
In November 2021, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act establishing a new, governmentwide “Buy America” requirement for all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in federally assisted infrastructure projects. However, these new “Buy America” requirements cannot be implemented for federal-aid highway projects until the 1983 waiver is rescinded by your Department.
On November 10, 2022, your Department implemented the new “Buy America” requirements for construction materials, with few exceptions. We strongly support this action and respectfully request that you finish the job by rescinding the Federal Highway Administration’s 1983 waiver for manufactured products.
Thank you for your leadership and consideration.