Bill Text: IL HR0372 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: States that the State of Illinois should work to maximize the creation of American jobs and to stimulate economic growth and opportunity by spending Illinois taxpayer dollars on iron and steel that creates jobs and helps keep Americans employed.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-25 - Resolution Adopted [HR0372 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-HR0372-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The American steel industry is vital to this | ||||||
3 | country's manufacturing base, strategic
infrastructure, and | ||||||
4 | national security; and
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5 | WHEREAS, The steel industry and manufacturing in general | ||||||
6 | has been significantly undermined
by artificially low-price | ||||||
7 | steel imports from foreign nations like China, that are selling | ||||||
8 | their
products in the United States at predatory prices; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Foreign steel overproduction and dumping into the | ||||||
10 | U.S. economy puts American
businesses and jobs in trouble, and | ||||||
11 | puts our overall economy at risk; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The United States trade deficit with China in 2016 | ||||||
13 | was more than $347 billion; and
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14 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Transit Authority recently awarded a
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15 | contract order to build over 800 rail cars, totaling $1.3 | ||||||
16 | billion; reportedly, the lowest bid was to China Railroad | ||||||
17 | Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC), a company with documented quality | ||||||
18 | deficiencies
in projects in Boston, Massachusetts and | ||||||
19 | Singapore; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Across the Midwest and throughout the country, |
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1 | thousands of steelworkers have
been laid off in recent years, | ||||||
2 | and as mills continue to operate well below their operational
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3 | capacity due to Chinese steel dumping and predatory bids on | ||||||
4 | public contracts, more steelworkers
and miners are at risk of | ||||||
5 | losing their jobs; and
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6 | WHEREAS, There are 340,000 less manufacturing workers in | ||||||
7 | Illinois than there were just 20
years ago; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Manufacturing lost 45,000 jobs nationwide in | ||||||
9 | 2016, compared to more than two
million gained in the entire | ||||||
10 | economy; and
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11 | WHEREAS, These same workers are the taxpayers that provide | ||||||
12 | the revenue needed to fund our
nation's crumbling | ||||||
13 | infrastructure, and their tax dollars should be spent on | ||||||
14 | maximizing the
creation of American manufacturing jobs, | ||||||
15 | building American infrastructure, and restoring the
economic | ||||||
16 | vitality of our communities; and
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17 | WHEREAS, The decision to use taxpayer dollars to support | ||||||
18 | Chinese-made manufacturers that are
undercutting the American | ||||||
19 | steel industry by illegal steel dumping practices, along with | ||||||
20 | reports of
flawed products that could potentially lead to | ||||||
21 | dangerous accidents, is detrimental to the
American economy, | ||||||
22 | infrastructure, and national security; and
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1 | WHEREAS, A strong "buy American" domestic procurement | ||||||
2 | preference for publicly funded
infrastructure projects is | ||||||
3 | vital to the health of the domestic steel industry, would help | ||||||
4 | create
manufacturing jobs and build American infrastructure, | ||||||
5 | and would prevent future unfair
competition from companies like | ||||||
6 | CRRC; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Using Illinois taxpayer dollars on | ||||||
8 | domestically-produced iron and steel and other
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9 | American-manufactured products in our infrastructure projects | ||||||
10 | will help struggling American
families, strengthen our middle | ||||||
11 | class, support the American manufacturing base, and stabilize
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12 | our greater economy; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Any infrastructure project built with Illinois | ||||||
14 | taxpayer dollars should - to every
extent possible - include a | ||||||
15 | preference by the State of Illinois to buy iron and steel that | ||||||
16 | is
produced in the United States, thus employing the very | ||||||
17 | workers that pay the taxes for American
infrastructure | ||||||
18 | projects; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
20 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the | ||||||
21 | State of Illinois should work to
maximize the creation of | ||||||
22 | American jobs and to stimulate economic growth and opportunity |
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1 | by
spending Illinois taxpayer dollars on iron and steel that | ||||||
2 | creates jobs and helps keep Americans
employed; and be it | ||||||
3 | further
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4 | RESOLVED, That it should be the policy of the State of | ||||||
5 | Illinois and its
localities, whenever and wherever possible, to | ||||||
6 | use taxpayer dollars to purchase iron and steel that
is | ||||||
7 | produced in the United States, meaning that all manufacturing | ||||||
8 | processes, from the initial
melting stage through the | ||||||
9 | application of coatings, occurs in the United States.
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