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
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Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, sometimes it is a mistake to listen to each other, and perhaps that is where we are right now.
I am hearing Mr. Larsen present the legislation, which actually would repeal the Make It In America provisions into the future. I hear Mr. Larsen talk about how the President's rule would actually waive the Buy America requirements that we put into the bipartisan infrastructure bill until July 1, 2024--5 months from now. That waiver is for 5 months going forward, at which time the Buy America rules that we put into the law are back in effect.
I hear my colleagues who are proposing this CR say something quite different, that somehow this CR would reestablish the Buy America provisions. Unfortunately, it doesn't. It is just the opposite. It would eliminate going on beyond July 1 the requirement to Buy America.
Maybe I am confused. I think not.
I do know that in our T&I Committee we spent a lot of time on Buy America, but the CR not only eliminates the current Federal regulation that delays until July 1 the implementation of the Buy America requirements; it goes beyond that. It also reinstates another provision, that is a 1983 waiver of the Buy America requirements.
So if indeed we want to help American industry, if we want to help American labor, and if we want to really build out the infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles, then we are going to need to have those charging stations. Those charging stations can be made in America if we stay with the current regulations that the administration has put forward, which only extends the Buy America waiver to July 1, 2024.
If I am wrong, I am wrong; it is not the first time in my life. Read carefully what we are doing here. It is not just taking on the Biden administration, which is great fun for some, it is really about are we going to have Make It In America requirements or not.
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