Ranking Members Larsen, Norton Statements from Hearing on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Buy America Provisions
Washington, D.C.—The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) during today’s hearing titled, “Implementation of Buy America Provisions: Stakeholder Perspectives.”
Video of Larsen and Norton’s opening statements are here and here.
More information on the hearing can be found here.
Ranking Member Larsen:
Thank you, Chairman Crawford and Ranking Member Norton, for holding this hearing.
Today’s hearing focuses on the implementation of Buy America policy and its impact on our economy.
Thank you to all our witnesses for being here today and for your efforts to create jobs and strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector.
This subcommittee has jurisdiction over several agencies that have decades of experience implementing Buy America policies.
The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration both were directed by Congress in the 1970s and 1980s to enforce domestic content requirements on projects that use federal funds.
Since their enactment, these requirements have been updated to respond to various issues facing the U.S. economy.
Broadly speaking, current Buy America policies ensure that federally funded transit, rail, and road transportation projects cannot be built unless the iron, steel, manufactured products, and certain construction materials used in those projects are produced in the United States.
The intent of these policies is to maximize the economic value of federal infrastructure investments in the U.S. and ensure that taxpayer dollars benefit our workers and companies.
Under the leadership of this Administration, Democrats are taking a proactive and strategic approach to create jobs and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) delivered historic investments to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure and expanded domestic procurement policies through the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) provisions in the BIL.
The law expanded Buy America coverage to all federally funded infrastructure projects, including those that had previously been exempt.
By requiring the use of products and materials made in the U.S., the Build America, Buy America provisions have helped stimulate private sector investments in domestic manufacturing, bolster critical supply chains, and support the creation of good jobs so that America’s workers and industries can compete and lead globally.
Since President Biden took office, the economy has added nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs.
According to the Treasury Department, real manufacturing construction spending in the U.S. has doubled since the enactment of the BIL.
This “surge” comes from a trio of policy achievements enacted last Congress: the BIL, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the CHIPS and Science Act.
These laws expanded Buy America provisions and provided dedicated funding and incentives to encourage private investment in our economy. This public spending has not crowded out private spending. Real private spending on transportation construction has grown by nearly 14 percent since the President signed the BIL.
Following the enactment of the BIL, the administration faced several competing priorities, including getting this historic funding out quickly and efficiently—an issue the full Committee has analyzed and will continue to analyze—while applying new and expanded domestic content requirements to infrastructure projects.
This administration made a clear commitment to Buy America and enforcing these requirements as soon as practicably possible.
Additionally, the Biden administration has committed to using waivers from Buy America in a limited and strategic manner.
In the past, broad and permanent waivers have diluted the benefits of Buy America policies and a lack of targeted waivers, even when warranted, delayed critical infrastructure projects.
Waivers, when issued appropriately, are a tool to signal where gaps exist in the domestic supply chain or allow time for compliance with stronger Buy America standards.
Temporary and targeted waivers send clear market signals, allowing for a phase-in of domestic procurement preferences, creating an incentive for firms to invest in America and create good jobs in our communities.
For example, electric vehicle (EV) chargers were previously largely exempt from Buy America under a 1983 general waiver for manufactured products.
Although not required to do so by law, the Administration extended Buy America coverage to EV chargers under a phased-in implementation plan to give private sector companies in the U.S. time to adjust their supply chains.
This policy, which will be fully effective this July, is already spurring hundreds of millions of dollars of factory investments and jobs for domestic EV charger production. Failed attempts to repeal this standard resulted in EV chargers again being exempt from Buy America, resulting in taxpayer dollars going to overseas companies.
I am pleased the President vetoed that bad idea and instead honored his commitment to our workers and manufacturers.
I continue to welcome the opportunity to celebrate the infrastructure benefits each of our districts and constituents are reaping because of the BIL.
This Committee continues delivering bipartisan solutions for all Americans, and Buy America continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support.
I look forward to today’s discussion.
Ranking Member Norton:
I would like to thank Subcommittee Chair Rick Crawford for holding this hearing on the implementation of Buy America provisions.
Buy America is a foundational policy for our highway and transit programs, and for U.S. workers.
These policies date back to the late 1970s, and have ensured that as states, localities and transit agencies build projects, they are also supporting U.S. jobs and domestic supply chains.
Buy America ensures that taxpayers see double the benefit in transportation projects. First, they see the safety or mobility benefits of the projects.
Second, the projects are built with American products, creating good-paying jobs for workers.
While the federal highway and transit programs have benefitted from Buy America policies for over 45 years, that is not true for every federal infrastructure program.
The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act changed that. The law included the “Build America, Buy America Act,” a cornerstone of the Biden Administration’s industrial policy. The law extended domestic content requirements to all federally funded infrastructure programs.
While highway and transit programs already included most of these requirements, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expanded Buy America to also cover construction materials.
This is a new policy for federal highway and transit programs. Congress and the Biden Administration must provide state departments of transportation and transit agencies with the resources they need to understand and comply with the new requirements.
Another recent change is the Biden Administration’s policy increasing Buy America standards for electric vehicle chargers. These new standards will help us bring an emerging manufacturing sector to the United States, while also helping to reduce pollution in our communities.
I was pleased that President Biden vetoed the effort to overturn the increased standards for electric vehicle chargers, and that these new, stronger Buy America standards will stay on the books.
I also look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the Buy America waiver process. While Buy America waivers should be used judiciously, there are instances in which infrastructure projects may require materials or products not made in the United States.
In those instances, the waiver process should be fair and transparent to stakeholders.
Finally, I would be remiss not to mention this Committee’s role in banning federal transit funds from being used to purchase transit rolling stock from Chinese state-owned enterprises.
That is a particularly critical policy here in the National Capital Region, home to much of the country’s intelligence and national security apparatus. I appreciate the bipartisan work of my colleagues to confront that challenge.
I thank our witnesses for being here today, and look forward to working with you to improve and strengthen our nation’s Buy America policies.
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