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01/29/2009
Murphy amendment stripped from proposal
By PATRICK CLOONAN , Daily News Staff Writer

Congressional Democrats stripped from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan a local lawmaker's bid to assure that American high-tech companies would get jobs funded by that plan.
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U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said his amendment would have required that any health information technology system bought under a $20 billion grant program in the stimulus package be manufactured in the United States by American workers.

"The Pittsburgh Technology Council alone has 1,422 member companies dedicated to information technology needs," Murphy said. "Surely we can find health IT companies in the United States that are more than capable and ready to do this important work."

However, while the amendment received unanimous support in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, it was not included in the $825 billion spending package that was approved by the House Wednesday night by a 244-188 vote.

Murphy said he made another bid for his amendment Tuesday night in the House Rules Committee, but again without success. He said the Rules Committee did not approve any Buy American provisions with the exception of one applying to textiles.

"From the iron mines to the manufacturers, to the mills, let's use it to buy American," the Upper St. Clair Republican said. "If we really are going to be serious about American jobs, we should require the billions in taxpayer funds go only towards American jobs and to buy products that say 'Made in the U.S.A.'"

Advocates of the Obama plan were turning their attention to lobbying members of the Senate, including U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Philadelphia.

Penn Action, one of the groups in the union-backed Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery, planned to make its argument in a conference call today.

On Tuesday, Specter said, "There is no doubt that we have to move promptly (on the Obama plan), but the old saying is that we have to do it right as opposed to doing it fast."

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