Nick Rahall: “My motion is simple. It instructs the conferees to seize the opportunity to create more American jobs and to revive…”

“My motion is simple. It instructs the conferees to seize the opportunity to create more American jobs and to revive American manufacturing by closing loopholes in Buy American laws. The House-Senate conference committee is seeking to resolve differences on the surface transportation reauthorization bill. But one thing we should be able to agree on right now is that every taxpayer dollar spent constructing highway, transit, and rail projects should help create jobs in America and not overseas. American workers are still struggling to find work as our economy slowly recovers from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. The construction and manufacturing sectors have been particularly hard hit. More than 56,000 U.S. factories have closed or moved overseas in the last 10 years, and 90,000 more manufacturing firms, most of which are small businesses, are at risk of going out of business. Today, more than 2.2 million construction and manufacturing workers remain out of work. I have pleaded again and again that we must enact a well-funded, long-term surface transportation bill immediately and not let another construction season dwindle while Congress dawdles. {time} 2030 We must find common ground, and we must find it fast.…”