The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is urging support for the highway bill scheduled for consideration by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday, February 2, 2012. AEM believes the long-awaited legislation would point the way to job creation, desperately needed infrastructure improvements, and greater national and international competitiveness for all domestic businesses.
"Our manufacturers believe H.R. 7 is one of the most important pieces of legislation before Congress this session for job growth and for our economic well-being. AEM urges the House to quickly consider and approve H.R. 7 and to move quickly to conference with the Senate prior to the March 31 deadline of the current stop-gap funding," said Dennis Slater, AEM president. AEM membership includes Briggs & Stratton Commercial Power, Caterpillar and John Deere.
"Roads, highways and bridges require long-term project planning. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) provides the construction industry with the market certainty it needs to make capital investments in employees and in equipment with new technologies for improved air quality and operating efficiencies. And in a still tenuous economy, it provides a much-needed growth engine," Slater added.
The bill maintains federal funding for infrastructure in one of the most difficult budget environments in recent years. The bill reforms and consolidates existing highway programs, accelerates project approval times, and eliminates earmarks.
For background on the bill, read Speaker John Boehner’s blog. Republicans are also expected to fight for the controversial Keystone Pipeline as part of this bill.
