Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015
Floor Speech
Mr. GARAMENDI (during the reading). Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading.
The Acting CHAIR. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. LATHAM. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved.
The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Chairman, the gen tle lady from Tennessee spoke about the American taxpayer and the money that is being spent by Congress, and I would like to pick up on that subject because I am deeply concerned about where and how we spend our taxpayer money. It is not our money. It is the American public's money, and it ought to be spent wisely, and it ought to be spent on American-made goods and services.
This amendment would build off of the current law dating back to 1933, the Buy American laws. This amendment is necessary, and I will tell you why it is necessary.
This is a picture of the new San Francisco Bay Bridge, built by the Chinese Government--several billion dollars of American taxpayer money, California bridge tolls, and Federal taxpayer dollars spent to buy steel products to build this bridge from the Chinese Government. It was a steel company in Shanghai, owned by the Chinese Government--actually, by the Chinese military--that built this bridge.
This bridge should have been built by Americans--American steel companies, American workers. It should not have been built by the Chinese Government. Three thousand jobs in Shanghai, zero jobs in America--and a very shoddy job done on the bridge, thousands upon thousands of faulty welds, over budget, and it went over on time.
We need to strengthen the Buy American laws. We need to bring it home. We need to Make It In America, and this amendment would strengthen the Buy American laws in the transportation portion of this bill.
It would simply say that 60 percent is good. 70, 80, 90, and 100 percent is where we ought to be. We ought not any longer contract out to foreign companies and specifically not to the Chinese Government to build American bridges.
We are going to spend $50 billion in this bill. Is that money going to be spent here in America on American-made goods and services? Or is it going to be spent somewhere overseas, perhaps China?
No more, I say. Build it in America. Use American taxpayer dollars to buy American goods and services. This ought to be the mantra of this Congress: Buy America. Employ Americans. Give American companies here in the United States the opportunity to bid on these jobs.
It is not going to be more expensive, and this is the proof, way over budget, way beyond the timeframes, and way beyond what is reasonable.
Build it in America, American jobs, spend American taxpayer money on American-made equipment, goods, and services. That is what this amendment does.
It also eliminates one of the problems that led to the segmentation, but we will not go there. We will simply say it is going to be made in America. That is what this amendment is all about.
I know we are going to get a point of order, but really, we ought to waive that point of order and put on the floor the issue: Is this House willing to Make It In America, to bring the American jobs back home? Is this House willing to allow American taxpayer money to be spent on American-made goods and services? Or are we simply going to do a point of order and avoid the fundamental question that was raised by my colleague in her previous discussion, how are we to spend the American taxpayer money? I say spend it on American-made goods and services.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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