Bustos introduces American jobs bill in Congress
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- Published on Thursday, 11 April 2013 17:15
- Written by Paul Gordon
Saying creating and maintaining manufacturers remains one of the country's most pressing economic issues, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos introduced legislation in Congress on Wednesday to try and ensure the issue is a focus of future federal contracts.
Bustos, the first-term Democrat from East Moline whose 17th District includes much of west-central Illinois and Peoria, said the American Jobs Matter Act is "a common sense bill to boost manufacturing and create jobs here at home." It would not only stress the importance of creating jobs in America but help rebuild the country's manufacturing base, she said.
This image from C-Span is of U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-East Moline, speaking in the U.S. House to introduce her legislation, the American Jobs Matter Act."It's simple; my bill would allow the federal government to take American jobs into consideration when accepting bids for taxpayer-funded federal contracts. Job creation is my number one priority, and this bill ensures that taxpayer dollars are invested where they should be, right here at home in America, not overseas," Bustos said in announcing the legislation.
She spoke before the House on Thursday to further introduce the legislation, which she has attached to a larger initiative called "Make It In America," which was introduced earlier in the week by House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, and would promore American workers, jobs, innovation and infrastructure.
In her speech from the House floor Bustos said the American Jobs Matter Act would "help ensure taxpayer money is being used to create jobs in places like Rockford, Moline, Galesburg and Peoria, and cities and towns across my state and our country, not jobs overseas."
"(W)e need to do more to create jobs and support American manufacturing. My bill does just that," she said.
During a telephone news conference on Thursday, she told central Illinois media that her travels through the 17th District have brought her attention to the state of manufacturing and the need to create and maintain jobs in Illinois. Proposing legislation to help that is not a partisan issue, she added.
Saying the government needs to encourage job growth in Illinois and not overseas, Bustos acknowledged her bill would enable to government to give preferential treatment to companies who keep jobs on their home turf. "We have to make sure taxpayer dollars are being invested here at home. It's about jobs, plain and simple," she said.
Bustos said companies that are awarded federal contracts would be subject to annual evaluations to ensure they are doing as the promised in the number of jobs created and maintained, oversight that would cost the government about $3 million over a five-year period to perform.
If a company is found to be untruthful, it would, under her bill, be precluded from receiving future contracts.
Bustos said the American Jobs Matter Act has no co-sponsors yet but she expects it will "because I see this as an idea that crosses party lines. It's about economic growth and I don't see how anyone could object to that."
One of central Illinois' largest manufacturers is Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc., which annually receives federal contracts for supplying equipment to various military divisions, forestry and agricultural needs and electric generation purposes.
Caterpillar has more than 120,000 employees worldwide, with about half of them in the United States. A large portion of those domestic jobs are in Illinois.
The company declined to comment on the American Jobs Matter legislation because it had not been able to study it as yet, said spokesman Jim Dugan.
Another top manufacturer in the 17th District is Deere & Co.
To read the complete text of the Bustos bill go to https://bustos.house.gov/sites/bustos.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/Bustos.American.Jobs_.Matter.Act_.pdf.
