Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under the Rule Submitted By the Federal Highway Administration Relating to ``Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Electric Vehicle Chargers''
Floor Speech
I rise in opposition to this resolution. On the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, we know that investing in infrastructure means jobs for American workers and economic growth.
Our goal is for taxpayer dollars to deliver returns at home, not just for those who travel on the roads and bridges but for the women and men who build our highway infrastructure.
The Biden administration shares that goal and has made Buy America one of the centerpieces of its infrastructure policy as we build out modern transportation systems that are cleaner, greener, safer, and more accessible.
There is strong bipartisan support in Congress for strengthening Buy America, rebuilding the U.S. industrial base, and creating jobs.
We saw the result of this broad support with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL, which included a new domestic content requirement for all Federal infrastructure spending.
Congress should be focused on supporting implementation of these new Buy America and domestic content requirements so we can maximize the return of our infrastructure investments and support job creation.
Instead, we are here today debating a resolution that would undercut the BIL and the administration's aim to bolster a domestic EV charger supply chain.
Federal highway and transit programs have had Buy America standards for decades. These standards have insured that any investment in U.S. infrastructure is also an investment in U.S. workers.
Since 1983, all manufactured products have been exempted from Buy America under the Federal highway programs.
Under this policy, EV chargers funded by the Federal Highway Administration would not have been required to be built in the U.S.
Further, there would have been no requirements for those chargers to include any domestic content beyond the iron and steel components.
If this policy had been applied to the $7.5 billion for EV charging included in the BIL, we would have supported jobs overseas instead of jobs for U.S. workers. The Biden administration took action to make sure that would not happen.
First, it deemed that the general manufactured products Buy America waiver would no longer apply to EV chargers.
Further, the administration created a new, stronger standard for domestic content in EV chargers. Under the new policy, and for the first time, all federally funded EV chargers must be manufactured in the U.S.
The new policy also includes domestic content requirements for all components, not just those made of iron and steel.
The domestic content requirements ramp up over time to allow manufacturers to expand their capacity in the U.S.
The policy is working. Since 2021, private companies have announced $500 million in investments across the country in EV charging manufacturing facilities, according to the Department of Energy. The investment is creating jobs in an emerging and growing industry.
This is exactly how Buy America policies are supposed to work. You cannot change course overnight on a 40-year-old policy. You need to give time to the private sector to prepare.
That is exactly what the administration is doing. Beginning on July 1 of this year, all federally funded EV chargers will be assembled in the U.S. and will have at least a 55 percent U.S. content--consistent with the Build America Buy America policy included in the BIL.
This approach is a win for U.S. workers, the private sector, and all Americans will benefit from a more sustainable transportation system.
While this new standard is technically called a waiver, it meets the industry's current needs with greater precision and has a much stronger Buy America policy than the broad waiver it replaces.
Unfortunately, this resolution before us today would erase that progress. If we repeal the new Biden administration approach, EV chargers would once again fall under the broad general manufactured products exemption from Buy America.
We would lose the requirement that all federally funded EV chargers be built in the U.S., we would lose the domestic content requirements for components not made from iron and steel, and we would create uncertainty for the private sector who have based their investments and job creation on the new Buy America standards.
Many Members of Congress share the same goal of the strong Buy America standards. Repealing a Buy America waiver may sound great, but this resolution would actually weaken Buy America.
Some may argue the Biden administration could just repeal the general manufactured products waiver. In fact, the administration is in the process of reconsidering that waiver as we are required under the BIL.
It is a complex process to reconsider a 40-year-old policy that applies to hundreds of products ranging from traffic cameras to the changeable message signs that we see every day on our highways.
That process is going to take time to get it right and should not be used as a rationale for weakening Buy America standards that exist today.
The reality is that this resolution would weaken Buy America at a time when we are making record investments in EV chargers.
In fact, this week I expect the Federal Highway Administration to announce hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to strategically deploy publicly accessible electric vehicle charging infrastructure in communities and along vital travel corridors.
EV charging investment is already paying dividends for communities and creating jobs. After launching the first federally funded EV charging station, Mike DeWine, the Governor of Ohio, said electric vehicles are the future of transportation, and we want drivers in Ohio to have access to this technology today.
This resolution before us today would slow down similar investments across the U.S. and create incoherent industrial policy.
It is not just my opinion. This resolution is opposed by the women and men of the United Steelworkers, the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers--those whose jobs will actually be affected by this policy.
The United Steelworkers said this resolution is shortsighted and misguided and would undercut American manufacturing, both near and long term.
The resolution is also opposed by the Zero Emission Transportation Association and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association whose members include EV charger and component manufacturers.
In a letter of opposition, these associations said that if this resolution were enacted, it would cause major disruption of major infrastructure projects across the country.
We know infrastructure investment creates family-wage jobs for U.S. workers. The Biden administration's approach to Buy America delivers on that promise.
I urge my colleagues to support Buy America and to reject this resolution.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Brownley).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. McClellan).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington, the ranking member, for his leadership.
There is more work to be done, and I am glad our previous speaker, my colleague and friend from California, made it clear that this is for 5 months.
This is about getting more jobs and getting them done now. This is to emphasize that this new emphasis on EV infrastructure is going to help each and every one of my colleagues.
I am rising because I am so proud of the State of Texas. It is one of the few States that has announced American-made EV charger investments as of September 2023. We are already out front in the State of Texas, which is not often known for moving fast on these kinds of environmentally focused efforts. I thank Texas.
It is because of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, United Steelworkers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, United Auto Workers, Siemens, and Alliance for American Manufacturing working together for these EV chargers to make sure that we will have the waiver for only 5 months. Then, all the chargers will be required to contain 55 percent domestic content on the cost of components.
The infrastructure in which EV chargers are housed is predominantly steel and iron, which are excluded from this waiver now.
The explanation is that this is to do better, to help America do better, and to get us ready for July 2024, to help more States have EV investments that create jobs, move us into a new level of technology, and provide the opportunity for more science-based mobility, transportation that is safe, that is clean, and that is job-creating.
What more can we want?
Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this legislation because I want more jobs and a safer environment.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I want to close by first going back to a point someone made by starting their comment with saying, ``since the Biden administration has come in.'' I want to quickly make some points on that.
Since the Biden administration has come in, unemployment has dropped precipitously. We have seen continued economic growth in the United States. Manufacturing jobs have increased.
We have passed legislation to bring $35 copays for Medicare enrollees and have seen the private sector now adopt $35 copays for their enrollees for diabetes medications.
Since the Biden administration has come in, we have passed the PACT Act to support veterans needing healthcare.
Since the Biden administration has come in, although there is still work to do, I recognize inflation has dropped 65 percent.
There are a lot of things that have happened during the Biden administration, including the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law, which today is putting women and men to work around the country building next-generation infrastructure, next-generation bridges, roads, and highways and next-generation transit systems, spreading broadband around the country and closing the digital divide in so many communities, as well as supporting the adoption of electric vehicle use around the country.
It was noted that 14 percent of vehicles sold last year were electric vehicles. I didn't know it was that high. I thought it was a little lower than that. I am glad it is that high. It shows an increasing adoption of electric vehicles in the United States.
To support that, the administration, through the BIL, is now beginning to implement the distribution and deployment of federally funded electric vehicles to complement what is already being done in many States around the country supporting electric vehicle deployment, including in my district.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. LARSEN of Washington. The city of Mount Vernon has received a grant to put in electric vehicle charging stations at their new Library Commons project, a project I supported and will continue to support, so we need to break the EV bond that the United States has with China and start by rejecting this resolution, because, when we buy America, we are going to say good-bye to our bond with China.
I would ask my colleagues, all Members, to reject S.J. Res. 38, to support this waiver, to give our private sector the time to develop what it needs to do to support the broader economy in the United States and the broader future of American transportation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source