A guest post by AAM intern Whitney Stack:

The Need for a Buy America Policy Members of the House Buy America Caucus said during an inaugural meeting last month that flagrant use of waiver authority is eroding the intent of laws requiring taxpayer dollars to be used to buy American-made The Need for a Buy America Policy Members of the House Buy America Caucus said during an inaugural meeting last month that flagrant use of waiver authority is eroding the intent of laws requiring taxpayer dollars to be used to buy American-made supplies for roads, bridges, defense products, and certain types of equipment. Congressman Chris Murphy (D-CT), chairman of the newly-formed Buy America Caucus, opened the meeting by informing attendees that between 2007 and 2008, the number of waivers to Buy American laws issued by federal bureaucrats increased by 450 percent - a shocking total of 65,000 in 2008 alone.  In 2007, the Department of Defense granted 14,159 waivers worth more than $5.7 billion in taxpayer dollars.  In the same year, his state of Connecticut lost more than 3,000 manufacturing jobs. A panel advocating for American manufacturing that included Scott Boos of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), Dan LaPre of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, and Laurence Lasoff of the law firm Kelley Drye, asked the caucus and attendees to close the loopholes being used to dodge the Congressional intent of Buy American laws. The 2009 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) included a Buy America clause to ensure that American tax dollars intended to create jobs in America were not, in actuality, sent overseas. Support for domestic content laws in America is strong – 84 percent of Americans favored the provision that was included in the ARRA.  In addition, more than 500 state and local governments have passed resolutions pledging to do their part to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to purchase American-made materials and equipment. Read more about the need for Buy America laws: Buy America Works. ##