At a press conference yesterday overlooking the San Francisco Bay Bridge, U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) and California Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas, CA) urged San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to retain its commitment to Buy American as it considers contracts for a new fleet of BART cars.

As KGO 810AM reported:

Congressman John Garamendi urged the BART board of directors to "maximize the American content" in the trains they will be purchasing.

Garamendi also has a proposed a bill in the House that would require infrastructure projects, like the Bay Bridge and BART, to use a majority of American-made products and labor.

Listen to the full radio segment.

The BART Board will soon make a decision on a multi-billion dollar car contract. Under similar circumstances a few years ago, CalTrans chose to support Chinese steel producers over American steel producers for construction of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. This cost American workers thousands of jobs and rewarded China for unfair trade and labor practices. Those assembled at the press conference said the Bay Area does not need another Bay Bridge fiasco.

Click here for ABC 7-TV coverage of the press conference.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) commends Congressman John Garamendi and Assembly Member Luis Alejo for supporting Buy America preferences and for pushing BART to maximize the amount of domestic content in its new fleet of cars. 

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