A group of 19 Senate Republicans helped greenlight outsourcing of American manufacturing jobs with the passage of the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill that provides giant carve-outs for industries to bypass “Buy American” rules.
On Tuesday, 19 Senate Republicans joined Senate Democrats in a 69-30 vote to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Those Senate Republicans include:
Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rob Portman (R-OH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jim Risch (R-ID), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Hoeven (R-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Mitt Romney (R-UT)
As Breitbart News reported, the bill allows the heads of federal agencies to issue waivers to corporations to work around Buy American requirements if they consider the requirement “inconsistent with the public interest,” does not meet “satisfactory quality,” or if they believe buying American will increase costs for the projects.