{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-american-infrastructure-should-be-built-with-american-made-products", "Donnelly: American Infrastructure Should be Built with American-Made Products", "2016-12-05", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Joe Donnelly", "D000607", "www.donnelly.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donnelly: American Infrastructure Should be Built with American-Made Products\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tSenator and colleagues demand inclusion of \u2018Buy America\u2019 provision for steel and iron in final Water Infrastructure legislation\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tMonday, December 5, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly called for the restoration of a \u2018Buy America\u2019 provision in the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), to require projects funded by the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to be built with American-made iron and steel products. The \u2018Buy America\u2019 requirement was included in the Senate-passed version of the bill with broad bipartisan support, but was reportedly stripped from the compromise package negotiated by leaders in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Donnelly and his colleagues have asked leadership to put the provision back into the final bill to support U.S. steel and iron workers and manufacturers.\r\nIn the letter to Senate and House leadership, Donnelly and his colleagues wrote, \u201c\u2026Buy America is an important job-creating provision.\u00a0 If subject to the Buy America provisions, DWSRF-funded infrastructure projects will be required to use American iron and steel.\u00a0As a result, companies will have incentives to invest in domestic manufacturing facilities, and U.S. taxpayer dollars will support American manufacturers\u2026\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201c\u2026The American people spoke clearly in this past election that they want leaders who fight for the working class and who advance policies that create more jobs and grow the U.S. manufacturing sector. We urge you to heed their voices in the WRDA negotiations and ensure the DWSRF Buy America provisions are incorporated in the final bill.\u201d\r\nYou can download a copy of the letter here. Full text is available below.\u00a0\r\nDecember 2, 2016\r\nDear Majority Leader McConnell, Democratic Leader Reid, Speaker Ryan, and Democratic Leader Pelosi:\r\nWe write to express our concern that an important Buy America provision for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) has been struck from the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) conference report to be considered by the House and Senate.\u00a0\u00a0 This provision (Section 7117 of S. 2848) was approved by the Senate with broad bipartisan support, and we urge you to ensure that it is included in the final WRDA bill.\r\nSection 7117 of the Senate bill would codify the Buy America procurement preference for American-made iron and steel products that has been applied to the DWSRF for many years through annual appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).\u00a0 The language would ensure that the DWSRF is subject to the same Buy America policies permanently applied to the EPA\u2019s other federal-aid water infrastructure spending programs, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program. \u00a0\r\nBuy America is an important job-creating provision.\u00a0 If subject to the Buy America provisions, DWSRF-funded infrastructure projects will be required to use American iron and steel.\u00a0\u00a0 As a result, companies will have incentives to invest in domestic manufacturing facilities, and U.S. taxpayer dollars will support American manufacturers.\u00a0\r\nRemoving the Buy America provisions from the DWSRF will have the opposite effect.\u00a0 Without domestic content requirements, foreign companies will reap the advantages of U.S. taxpayer spending at the expense of taxpaying U.S. iron and steel producers and workers across the country.\u00a0 An opportunity to support and grow U.S. manufacturers will be squandered.\r\nThe American people spoke clearly in this past election that they want leaders who fight for the working class and who advance policies that create more jobs and grow the U.S. manufacturing sector. We urge you to heed their voices in the WRDA negotiations and ensure the DWSRF Buy America provisions are incorporated in the final bill.\r\nSincerely,\r\nU.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and 24 colleagues\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-american-infrastructure-should-be-built-with-american-made-products"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.467280788347125, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}