Mark Dayton: “I am a little perplexed at the dire consequences that are being asserted if my amendment were to be adopted, because my…”

“I am a little perplexed at the dire consequences that are being asserted if my amendment were to be adopted, because my amendment simply strikes language that is in the bill before the Senate which is itself modifying current law. My amendment simply takes us back to current law. My amendment simply takes us back to the principles and the policies and the standards and the law in the Buy American Act, which has been in effect in this country for 70 years. So I am astonished that these dire consequences are being asserted on something that has been in existing law for 70 years, that has benefited companies represented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Defense Industrial Association, that may have certain members that have exported jobs and instead set up bases of operation in other countries, including those affected by this amendment. So there may be those who have that particular financial interest for their own companies involved, but, overall, as the Senator from Arizona pointed out, national defense and military equipment are areas of our trade where we enjoy a surplus.”