On the recordFebruary 7, 2011
I rise today to introduce the Charging America Forward Act, based on similar legislation I offered last year, to drive innovation and advance vehicle manufacturing and to lower costs for consumers when they buy these great new cars and trucks of the future which, by the way, I would remind folks are being made in Michigan. So we want people to be buying those automobiles. In his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on us to rise to the challenge of the 21st-century economy to outinnovative, outeducate, and outbuild the rest of the world. We can do that. He also challenged us to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. The bill I have introduced today will help us achieve that goal. By investing in electric vehicle innovation, we can create the jobs of the future in America. We are already creating those jobs in Michigan with these investments. We all know new technologies are always the most expensive, which is why we passed a tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase of a new electric vehicle. My bill makes that work even better for consumers.
