Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) senior vice president of government and industry relations Kip Eideberg issued the following statement on today’s lack of progress on passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill:

"If our elected representatives in Washington do not vote on and pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act today, they will have let down equipment manufacturers and the 2.8 million hardworking men and women of our industry,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM senior vice president of government and industry relations. “Equipment manufacturers show up to work every day, even during a global pandemic, because they know that Americans count on them to make the equipment that build, power, and feed our nation. It is utterly inexcusable that our elected representatives are unwilling to do the same. The all-at-once or nothing mentality that currently pervades Washington is not conducive to the bipartisan leadership and constructive governing necessary to move our country forward. The hardworking men and women of our industry deserve to know why our elected representatives in Washington do not have the courage to put country over party and support a bill that will ensure our industry’s long-term economic growth and prosperity, and improve the lives of all Americans. We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to pass this bipartisan, commonsense bill today.”

AEM released a study that shows new potential infrastructure investments made by Congress over the next several years could create more than 100,000 family-sustaining equipment manufacturing jobs and nearly 500,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs overall. The equipment manufacturing industry represents one of every eight U.S. manufacturing jobs currently with 2.8 million men and women and contribute $288 billion each year to the U.S. economy.