WHEREAS,
The economic downturn is impacting everyday Americans who are struggling to find or maintain jobs in an increasingly difficult environment; and
WHEREAS,
Those same Americans are the taxpayers who provide the revenue needed to operate essential government services; and
WHEREAS,
Both the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, like most other major cities and large states, are currently dealing with challenging budget deficits that threaten drastic service reductions or burdensome revenue enhancements to make up for the revenue shortfall caused by the recession; and
WHEREAS,
Congress and President Obama enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to help economically devastated cities and states immediately provide jobs to millions of out-of-work Americans through considerable infrastructure rebuilding, green energy projects, and other projects that will require manufactured and installed components; and
WHEREAS,
Our taxpayer dollars should be spent to maximize the creation of American jobs and restore economic vitality to our communities; and
WHEREAS,
Domestically produced products purchased with funds from the economic recovery package will immediately help struggling American families and will help stabilize our economy; and
WHEREAS,
Economic recovery spending should, to every extent possible, include a commitment from the City of Philadelphia to buy materials, goods, and services for projects from companies that are produced within the United States, thus employing the very workers who pay the taxes that funded the economic recovery package; now, therefore,
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,
That the City Council of Philadelphia does hereby urge the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support American companies and American-made products when spending its funding allocation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
End