Douglas Alexander: “today I voted against the Dodd amendment for two important reasons. First, it is the wrong policy for growing jobs. And…”

“today I voted against the Dodd amendment for two important reasons. First, it is the wrong policy for growing jobs. And second, it tramples on the principle of federalism. Nearly 150,000 Tennesseans are employed by foreign companies conducting business in Tennessee. As Governor, I helped attract some of those jobs and companies to our State--companies such as Nissan, Sharp, Bridgestone, Panasonic, and many others. The Dodd amendment could have denied them the ability to compete for government contracts. That's not right. If the Dodd amendment becomes law, it will discourage these foreign companies from investing in our country. In these times when we are trying so hard to grow new, high-paying jobs, the Dodd amendment is exactly the wrong policy. Further, the Dodd amendment ignores the principle of federalism by limiting the States' options on granting contracts using Federal funds. The whole point in sending money to the States is that they know better than the Federal Government how to spend it to meet the needs of their citizens. As a former Governor, I know how frustrating it is to have the Federal Government tell you how you can or can't spend your money. Neither Tennessee nor any other State should have new burdens placed on how it spends federally granted funds.”