House Votes to Buy American

Press Release

House Votes to Buy American

With so many construction and manufacturing workers still out of work, it's important that when taxpayer money is used to build highway, transit and rail projects that every dollar possible go to create jobs in America and not overseas. Unfortunately, there are loopholes in the Buy American laws that allow too many contracts to foreign manufacturers and workers.

House and Senate negotiators are currently working to reach agreement on a final long-term surface transportation bill. There are many issues in dispute. On May 18, Rep. Rahall of West Virginia offered a motion to instruct the negotiators to accept the Senate bill's much stronger Buy American provisions that will close the loopholes that send so many U.S. jobs abroad. The House voted 245 to 166 to adopt Rep. Rahall's motion. Click here for more information.

Lawmakers Demand Answers on Carp Barrier Failure

Thirty members of the House of Representatives, including Rep. Levin, recently wrote to the Army Corps of Engineers to get an explanation of why the electric dispersal barriers that protect the Great Lakes from the invasive Asian carp failed on May 2. The three electric barriers were built with a backup power generator to prevent such an occurrence, but it took 13 minutes to re-establish the electric barriers. Fortunately, it does not appear that the Asian carp exploited the barrier failure to move closer to Lake Michigan. The lawmakers' letter demands a detailed report of what went wrong with the electric dispersal barrier system and what is being done to correct the problem.

Empowering Consumers

As the U.S. continues to dig out of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, one thing that is abundantly clear is that a root cause of the crisis was irresponsible lenders selling loans to consumers that were too complicated. Millions of Americans were therefore stuck with loans they didn't understand and could not afford.

It is for this reason that in 2010 President Obama and Congress created a new financial agency to focus directly on consumers. The mission of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is to protect families from unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices and help ensure that powerful financial companies comply with consumer laws. The Bureau is a one-stop shop for consumers seeking information about financial products. The Bureau can also help consumers who have experienced difficulties with financial products. Their website is worth a visit.

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