President Obama gave a speech today to the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO to urge a greater investment in domestic infrastructure-- what he termed "nation-building here at home."

Two interesting facts cited by the President: Europe invests more than twice as much in infrastructure as the U.S. does; China invests roughly four times as much.

The president alluded to the importance of American-made content when explaining the need for new bridges and roads:

Are we really going to sit back and let other countries build the newest airports and fastest railroads and most modern schools?  At a time when we’ve got private construction companies all over the country and millions of workers ready and willing to build them right here, right now, in the United States of America?

American workers built this country.  Now we need American workers to rebuild this country.  It’s time to take some of the money that we spend on wars, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest of it to do some nation-building here at home.  There is work to be done; there are workers ready to do it; and you can help lead the way.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) has pointed to the job creation aspects of maximizing domestic content in infrastructure spending. 

The president touched on a similar view:

Infrastructure shouldn’t be a partisan issue.  Investments in better roads and safer bridges and newer schools have been made by Democrats and Republicans for generations, because they benefit all of us.  They lead to strong, durable economic growth.  Ronald Reagan once said that rebuilding our infrastructure is “common sense” and “an investment in tomorrow that we must make today.” 

Read the full speech.