[ HARPER NEIDIG | November 26, 2016 |The Hill]
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday he will introduce legislation aimed at preventing major companies from sending jobs to foreign countries, similar to what President-elect Donald Trump proposed on the campaign trail.
“I will soon be introducing legislation to make sure that Donald Trump keeps his promise to prevent the outsourcing of American jobs,” Sanders said in a statement.
“For the sake of American workers, this is a promise that cannot and must not be broken.”
Sanders aims to prevent companies like Carrier from moving to foreign countries by withholding federal contracts, tax breaks, loans or grants from corporations that move more than 50 jobs overseas.
His legislation, titled the Outsourcing Prevention Act, would also impose an outsourcing tax of either 35 percent of the company’s profits or an amount equal to its total savings from outsourcing the jobs.
Trump proposed something nearly identical during the campaign, routinely calling for a 35 percent tax on imported goods from companies that moved jobs out of the country, singling out Carrier for moving a factory to Mexico.
“I am working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the U.S. (Indiana). MAKING PROGRESS – Will know soon!” the president-elect tweeted Thursday.
Sanders said Saturday he will push to hold Trump to his campaign promise to create and retain jobs in the U.S.
“Let’s be clear: it is not good enough to save some of these jobs,” Sanders said. “We cannot rest until United Technologies signs a firm contract to keep all of these good-paying jobs in Indiana without slashing the salaries or benefits workers have earned.”
