Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chairman, I rise today to express support for strong Buy American provisions within the Department of Defense procurement policy. I would like to thank Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith, and Ranking Member Swalwell for engaging in this colloquy to discuss our shared goal to promote increased procurement of domestically manufactured solar devices for use by the Department of Defense. The Buy American Act is especially important when it comes to supporting nascent American industries, and strong Buy American policies can assist development of domestic manufacturing capability with regard to renewable energy. Currently, the Department of Defense is required to comply with Buy American Act provisions for procurement of energy produced from solar panels if those panels are located on government property and the electricity produced by the panels is reserved exclusively for use by the Department. Recently, we have witnessed the development of large-scale solar installations that are not located on government property, though the electricity produced is still exclusively used by the Department of Defense. I support a minor language change that would require DOD's procurement process to comply with the Buy American Act for electricity that is exclusively used by the Department of Defense or is generated from solar devices located on government property. This small change is worthy of support.…”