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BART Board Endorses Rep. Garamendi’s Make It In America Transportation Legislation

June 14, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA) is proud to announce that the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board has endorsed Garamendi’s H.R. 613, The Airports, Highways, High-Speed Rail, Trains and Transit: Make It In America Act of 2011.

Congressman Garamendi’s Make It In America legislation would create American jobs by requiring all transportation equipment purchased with federal taxpayer dollars to be sourced with American-produced goods. BART is California’s largest transit system by ridership and the fifth largest transit system in the nation, with 44 stations and more than 350,000 weekly riders.

"It's no secret that there are too many Americans out of work -- and that one of the reasons has been the exodus of American manufacturing overseas," said BART Director Joel Keller (District 2--Contra Costa). "This has made it difficult for transit systems like BART to purchase American-made vehicles and other products that support job creation in the US. The BART Board supports "Make It In America" goals because we should not only be providing reliable public transit service to Bay Area riders, but also assisting in creating jobs by encouraging more opportunities for greater American manufacturing. H.R. 613 (Garamendi) will help us get there."

"We know that transit infrastructure projects create critical jobs in our region and nation. But so should manufacturing the vehicles and products that transportation and transit agencies use every day," said BART Director Gail Murray (District 1 - Contra Costa). "We need to create more opportunities for transit agencies like BART to purchase American products. That's why supporting Rep. John Garamendi's H.R. 613 is so important. We need to begin the process of bringing back important manufacturing that supports local jobs."

"BART understands that public transit systems work when the people they serve work. America makes billions of dollars in transportation investments every year, and it just makes sense that we should Make It In America to create good jobs for our local communities," said Congressman Garamendi. "I thank the BART Board for their commitment to creating new American jobs and for their support to rebuild America’s manufacturing sector."

H.R. 613 would create American jobs by setting stronger standards for goods and equipment purchased with federal dollars for airports, highways, high-speed rail, trains and transit. The legislation would increase domestic content provisions for rolling stock from 60 to 100 percent over time, eliminates non-availability waivers, and create similar waiver reporting requirements across the different modes of transportation. A month ago, the Obama administration called on Congress to pass legislative language that is nearly identical to H.R. 613.

More information on Congressman Garamendi’s and the Democratic Caucus’s Make It In America policies is available at https://www.garamendi.house.gov/MakeItInAmerica.