Biden’s ‘Buy America’ Spin
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President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that past presidents, including his predecessor, have “ignored” or “failed to uphold” laws requiring that federal government money be used to purchase only U.S. materials or products. Biden has expanded and emphasized such requirements, but we found no indication other presidents didn’t abide by the laws on the books during their tenures.
Presidents of both parties have embraced the “Buy America” political messaging. Biden can lay claim to implementing broader requirements on how federal money is spent, such as those in a major infrastructure law that included $550 billion in new spending. But he goes too far in suggesting prior administrations broke the rules.
“And, by the way, ‘Buy America’ has been the law of the land since the ‘30s, but it’s been ignored by most administrations,” Biden said on May 8 in Racine, Wisconsin. “Past administrations, including my predecessor, have failed to buy American.
“Not anymore,” he continued. “Here’s how it works. When the pre- — when the Congress sends something to the president to build something — whether it’s a road, a highway, a deck of an aircraft carrier; whatever it is — that president is — back from a law that was passed in the ‘30s — is supposed to hire American workers to build it and use American products.”
In Pittsburgh, in a speech at the United Steelworkers Headquarters, Biden “very few presidents ever paid attention to” the provision in the 1930s law. “If a president is sent money from the Congress to do something for the public, he must use American products and must use
