AEM pushes stimulus bill

As you probably know, the Senate will vote shortly on the economic stimulus package. AEM has been in constant communication with Washington leaders to inform them of the best ways to help the industry and AEM member companies put people back to work. The economic recovery package will likely be the biggest spending bill in U.S. history, and the scope of the bill affects AEM member-company interests in many ways.

AEM is actively lobbying in support of proposals to:

• Increase the proportion of spending in the bill devoted to infrastructure investment,

• Improve the business tax relief provisions,

• Streamline environmental reporting requirements so that infrastructure projects can get underway with a minimum of delay,

• Strengthen the provisions of the bill aimed at revitalizing the nation’s housing market, and

• Prevent inclusion of protectionist language that would anger our international trading partners and provoke retaliatory measures, threatening our member companies’ overseas markets.

This last provision, known as "Buy American," has engendered a great deal of controversy, and AEM is working with like-minded allies – including business as well as lawmakers, academics and international trade experts – to prevent it from harming AEM member companies' access to markets and infrastructure projects in the U.S. and overseas. President Obama has urged Congress not to include any provision that U.S. trading partners would consider protectionist, which could cause U.S. companies to potentially be shut out of projects included in stimulus packages being written in other countries. Your comment?