Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) introduces the Invest in American Jobs Act requiring all taxpayer funded transportation and infrastructure projects to use U.S.-made materials. Dec. 1, 2011.
By Andrea Salazar
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge may be in the United States, but parts of it are stamped Made in China.
To combat the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Democrats announced Thursday the introduction of a bill tightening the requirements for investments in infrastructure and transportation.
The Invest in American Jobs Act, sponsored by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), would mandate that all materials used in infrastructure and transportation projects funded by U.S. taxpayers be made in the United States.
“Made in China but paid for by American tax payers,” Rahall said referring to the Chinese materials and man-power used in replacing a part of the Bay Bridge. “We are no longer just buying cheap trinkets from China, we are literally buying bridges and major transportation infrastructure, while outsourcing innovation and capabilities that could be fostered and strengthened right here in the U.S. of A.”
Pens and Notepads 