A recent poll of registered voters found that 83% believe American taxpayer dollars spent on U.S. infrastructure should be spent on American-made products.
Unfortunately, special interests that oppose the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that dictates new infrastructure, including iron, steel, electric vehicle chargers, and broadband fiber-optic cable must be "Made in America" are trying to find ways to allow importers to get a piece of the action. We can’t let that happen.
It's time to act and let your lawmakers know that U.S. tax dollars should go to support and bolster U.S.-based supply chains. If we have learned anything from the recent pandemic, it’s that supply chains need to be located within our national borders.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing has established a short web-based form that you can use to encourage your legislators to fully enforce the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's "Build America, Buy America" requirements.
Take just a few minutes here to tell your representatives that American factory workers should be employed to make necessary improvements to America's crumbling roads and bridges, not to mention our fragile electric electrical grid, railways, and water systems.
Somewhere in our American journey, we lost our national ambition to invest in America. We allowed our first-rate developed country to fall into disrepair. At the same time, China advanced while we stood still and it pulled ahead of us in certain areas, erecting the largest network of high-speed rail. Europe built the longest tunnel, and the Middle East turned a barren desert into global air hubs, spurring economic growth.
Over 42% of the 617,000 bridges across America are at least 50 years old, and 7.5% of them are deemed structurally deficient. Our nation's bridge repair backlog demands $125 billion. Since American workers are the only workers who pay taxes to America, U.S. taxpayer dollars should be spent on domestic materials crafted by American workers. Establishing such a common-sense policy will help us develop supply chains where they don't exist or are deficient.
We certainly don't want China-built or China-financed infrastructure projects in the United States. According to January 20, 2023, Wall Street Journal article, China has been severely criticized by several foreign leaders for its lending practices. Economists point to programs that have contributed to debt crises in Sri Lanka and Zambia – countries that have few options to repay the loans. The largest-ever infrastructure project in Ecuador revealed thousands of cracks in a $2.7 billion hydroelectric plant, raising concerns that Ecuador's most significant source of power could break down. An engineer at the University of San Francisco in Quito said, "We could lose everything…and we don’t know if it could be tomorrow or in six months."
A power generation company in Uganda has identified over 500 Chinese-built construction defects in a Nile River hydropower plant. The $567 million plan was financed through a $480 million loan courtesy of the Export-Import Bank of China.
America's independence relies on founding values like homegrown self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Communist-led countries like China should never be relied upon. In his farewell address, George Washington, the father of American independence, warned us against foreign entanglements, saying, "There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favours from Nations."
We need to keep America's workers working, earning good wages, paying sufficient taxes, and reaping the benefits that come from the dignity of work.
Signing the Alliance for American Manufacturing petition is a great way to ensure our representatives hear from us and stay on track. "Buy America" policies and keeping China in check are two of the few truly bipartisan issues that those from both political parties and independents can agree upon.
Make your voice heard. It’s the American thing to do.
via wnd