Washington, D.C. – A national survey of over 1,000 American adults found that 86 percent of those polled, nearly 9 in 10, favor Congressional requirements that all federally-funded transportation and infrastructure projects from the 2009 stimulus bill emphasize using American-made iron and steel before seeking a foreign competitor.

Strong support for the Buy America provision indicates the public’s intuitive understanding that spending to build and repair roads, bridges, rail, schools and waterways will produce a new wave of job-creation. The Department of Transportation, in fact, reported in April 2008 that every $1 billion invested in federal highways supports nearly 35,000 American jobs.

"Economists are emphasizing that the best way to create jobs and return our economy to vitality is to spend federal money on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects, which would help to put people both in manufacturing and construction directly back to work,” said AISI President and CEO, Thomas J. Gibson. “This survey shows that Americans support a common sense approach to rebuilding the economy. Americans want to see American taxpayer funds supporting a stimulus package that will generate American jobs using high-quality, American-made products. In fact, America’s steel industry, which is fundamental to our national and economic security, has high-quality, competitive-priced, American-made steel for any shovel-ready projects made by the hardest-working, most skilled steelworkers in the world.”

The question related to steel was conducted by Harris Interactive in a national omnibus survey conducted by phone among adults living in the contiguous United States. The survey was fielded January 22-25, 2009 among 1,006 adults 18 years of age or older and is representative of the U.S. population. The survey has a margin of sampling error of ± 3.1 percentage points.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. AISI plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 25 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI's member companies represent approximately 70 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.

Source: American Iron and Steel Institute, January 29, 2009