Made in America Jobs Act of 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of H.R. 7342, the Made in America Jobs Act, as amended, legislation introduced by myself and my friend from Colorado Representative Jeff Hurd.

In 2024, Congress reauthorized the U.S. Economic Development Administration for the first time in over 20 years. This reauthorization made significant revisions to EDA, providing the agency with the tools and resources it needs to support local economic growth and success in the worldwide economy.

One change this legislation made was to allow EDA to consider new criteria when awarding grants that promote long-term investment and growth. The Made in America Jobs Act builds on this progress by further expanding grant eligibility to projects that facilitate the relocation of employment sources from outside the country to inside the United States and the growth of the domestic manufacturing and customer service sectors.

By directing EDA to consider projects that aid these efforts when awarding grants for public works, planning, training, and other activities, Congress can continue to support established and emerging industries while creating new economic opportunities for both rural and urban communities alike.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill as amended and urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. FIGURES. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense piece of legislation that incentivizes companies and corporations to bring jobs back to America. We have seen over the better part of the last century the outsourcing of American jobs to offshore.

This gives us an opportunity to make real, tangible improvements in terms of those efforts to recruit those companies back here to the United States and not just to the big cities in the United States. This is an effort that will allow us to be able to put in place the resources and the incentives to bring those jobs to places like Macon County, Pike County, Monroe County, and Bullitt County, places that most of America has never heard of and places that most of America has very similar communities in their backyards.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 7342, the Made in America Jobs Act, as amended, and urge my colleagues to do the same. I yield back the balance of my time.

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