A group of “Democratic senators is urging the Obama administration to suspend an economic stimulus program aimed at financing renewable energy, complaining that money is going to projects that are creating jobs in foreign countries,” the AP reports.
The four senators, led by Chuck Schumer of New York, wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday to request a moratorium on the Recovery Act program. They asked that the moratorium remain in place until they can pass legislation mandating stimulus aid flow only to projects which preserve and create U.S. jobs.
"A critical Recovery Act priority is investment in the domestic renewable and clean energy industry, not investment in foreign manufacturers," the senators wrote in the letter, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. The letter, which will be disclosed at a news conference Wednesday, was also signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and Jon Tester of Montana.
The lawmakers “cited a report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop which found that a majority of the program’s grants went to foreign-owned companies, and that a majority of the turbines purchased with the money were built by foreign manufacturers.”
(credit image – getty)
Congress in Your Pocket
