[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         THE LOSS OF AMERICA'S HEROES AND OF AMERICA'S ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy) is recognized for 5 minutes.


 Honoring the Life and Service of United States Marine Corporal Xhacob 
                                LaTorre

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, before I address the issue 
which has brought me to the floor tonight, I want to recognize the 
ultimate sacrifice made by a young man from my district in the service 
of the United States Marine Corps.
  I am sad to report that my office received news last week that Marine 
Corporal Xhacob LaTorre, from Waterbury, Connecticut died due to wounds 
received in combat in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Corporal 
LaTorre's fatal injuries were the result of a roadside bomb.
  I speak for myself and for my constituents in expressing my 
appreciation for this young man's service in the defense of his 
country. Corporal LaTorre, who would have turned 22 last weekend, is 
one of America's heroes. I send my prayers and my condolences to his 
family; to his wife, Frances; to his son; and to his brother, Corporal 
Daniel LaTorre, on this tragic loss. We will never forget the sacrifice 
he has made for us.


                           Moment of Silence

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. I ask those in this Chamber this evening 
to join me in a brief moment of silence. Thank you.


              The American Economy is Being Sent Overseas

  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I have come to the floor 
tonight to speak about an issue important to my home State. As you can 
see by the 1-minute speeches given here earlier tonight to this entire 
Nation, Connecticut pioneered America's shipbuilding and aerospace 
industries. Shops which were once bustling with workers are now silent. 
When those shops went away, thousands of good-paying jobs for 
hardworking people in my State went away with them. We just learned 
recently that Connecticut will lose another 1,000 jobs when a major 
defense supplier shutters two of its facilities and moves its 
operations to Singapore and Japan.
  At this moment, 158,000 people in my State and almost 16 million 
across this country are out of work--many of those as a result of the 
transfer of military manufacturing jobs overseas. At the same time, the 
Department of Defense and other Federal agencies have created thousands 
of waivers of our domestic sourcing legislation, like the Buy American 
Act, which has resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being sent to 
overseas companies.
  Now, in working with a group of Members who is dedicated to shoring 
up the rules that require the government to purchase domestically, I've 
been drafting legislation which will seek to address the growing number 
of loopholes that allow companies to take taxpayer dollars overseas. My 
legislation would begin to reorient and to build up our domestic 
manufacturing and construction base, which has been hit so hard in 
recent times, by using taxpayer dollars to do it. Taxpayer dollars are 
already going to buy, too often, overseas products.
  We don't seek to interfere with the decisions of private businesses. 
We do, however, seek to make it clear that the U.S. Government values 
American-made products and that taxpayer money shouldn't be shipped off 
to a foreign country to contribute to the bottom line of that foreign 
company when American businesses can produce the same high-quality 
goods right here at home.
  I believe strongly in international trade, and I accept the necessity 
of an interdependent global economy. However, what we are discussing 
here is not just economics, and it is not simply a race to find the 
lowest price. It is about national security. It is especially about 
national security with regard to the Department of Defense. A stable 
supply of domestically manufactured defense products is imperative to 
this Nation's long-term safety and common defense. We have a real 
opportunity here to both reinvigorate our domestic capacity for 
manufacturing while enhancing our national security.
  With that in mind, I, along with a group of Members, am crafting 
legislation which will seek to assist firms that are victims of the 
loopholes in our current Buy American and Buy America regime. This 
legislation will target assistance to suppliers that manufacture or 
that could manufacture products that Federal agencies have deemed 
nonavailable from domestic sources, which is a misleading designation. 
Under current law, an agency can determine that an item is nonavailable 
in sufficient quantity or quality in the United States and then can 
just waive the Buy American restrictions. Therefore, the assistance in 
my legislation will target firms that make these nonavailable items 
right here in the United States but that might not have the capacity 
right now to meet the agency's needs.
  These firms will use this assistance to increase their capacity so 
that they can be the suppliers to the American Government rather than 
ceding that ground to foreign firms. It will also assist suppliers that 
manufacture an item which is currently being bought through the Buy 
American provisions. If that firm is in danger of going out of 
business, then let's step up and help it stay in business because the 
only place that we are left to go after that firm folds is to a foreign 
supplier.
  Madam Speaker, my colleagues came to this House floor earlier tonight 
to talk about the major Federal tanker contract which is going to a 
foreign supplier--Airbus. It is just one example. It is a major example 
of a growing trend in defense work going overseas. We have had enough. 
It is time for us as a Congress to deem this unacceptable, to 
strengthen the Buy American provisions, and to bring our taxpayer 
dollars back home.

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