According to media reports, Republican leadership in Congress this week removed a “Buy America” provision from the $12 billion Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which authorizes several infrastructure projects around the country. The provision would have required American-produced steel products to be used in the projects.
The bill with the provision in place passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support, but the “Buy America” provision was stripped from the bill while being reconciled by the Republican-controlled House.
The new version is on track to pass the House this week, but Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are working to insert the provision back into the bill before it passes.
“I’m not giving up on this fight,” Baldwin said in a media interview. “Why would we pass a bill that only benefits Russian and Chinese steel corporations when we could be providing certainty to American manufacturers of steel and iron?”