I Make America and Equipment Manufacturers Applaud Senate Passage of Highway Bill; Call on House to Follow Suit

MILWAUKEE, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On behalf of U.S. equipment manufacturers and the more than 20,000 supporters of the I Make America campaign, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater issued the following statement congratulating the U.S. Senate on its passage today of S. 1813 – "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century," or MAP-21 – the highway bill.

"AEM and its more than 870 member companies, their tens of thousands of employees, and the national grassroots I Make America campaign thank the U.S. Senate for working together in a bipartisan way to pass this critical two-year reauthorization of the highway bill.  S. 1813 reforms the way highway programs are administered, allowing for quicker and more efficient project approval, and provides a stable source of surface transportation funding, creating the certainty state departments of transportation need to plan, and American businesses need to invest, hire and grow. 

We especially commend Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe, the committee's ranking Republican, for their persistence, dedication and commitment to the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that has resulted in this well-crafted legislation. 

There is no single piece of legislation pending before Congress that will do more to immediately create American jobs and sharpen our global competitiveness. Now that the Senate has acted, the finish line is in sight, and AEM calls on the House to move immediately to the highway bill when it returns to session next week. Only 18 days remain until the current program extension expires on March 31st. The House must follow the Senate's example, pass this legislation, and get America moving again."

About I Make America – www.imakeamerica.com
I Make America is supported by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and its 850+ member companies. We are joined by the memberships of like-minded associations, American business owners, and citizens and local elected officials across the nation. To learn more about I Make America, visit us at www.IMakeAmerica.com. View short videos of employees and small business owners around the country telling the real life stories of how manufacturing affects the national economy at www.ADayinAmericanLife.com. Keep up to date on the latest I Make America campaign news on Twitter @IMakeAmerica and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/IMakeAmerica.

About the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) – www.aem.org
AEM is the North American-based international trade group providing innovative business development resources to advance the off-road equipment manufacturing industry in the global marketplace. AEM membership comprises more than 870 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility sectors worldwide. AEM is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with offices in the capitals of Washington, D.C., Ottawa, and Beijing.

SOURCE Association of Equipment Manufacturers

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