President Biden’s American Jobs Plan has the potential to transform our economy as we Build Back Better post-pandemic. In fact, our president has proposed the largest American jobs investment since World War II, which will promote our national security interests and create millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs. My home state of Indiana has more manufacturing jobs per capita than any other state. So, when rebuilding America’s infrastructure, it is especially important that we ensure U.S. taxpayer-funded projects are constructed with raw materials such as primary aluminum and steel that are made in America. Having served on Senate Armed Services Committee, I know first-hand just how important infrastructure is to our national defense. It is much harder to defend a nation with crumbling roads, an electrical grid that is totally inadequate for the modern age, and an inability to provide secure high-speed Internet to all Americans. In a modern, vibrant economy, having a first-rate infrastructure is critical to ensuring that America maintains its place as a global leader. In modernizing, however, we cannot be dependent on foreign nations to supply the critical raw materials and components that will be necessary. The experience of the pandemic has taught us that lesson. American-made primary aluminum and high purity aluminum are essential to building our nation’s defense infrastructure, and provide good-paying jobs for thousands of American workers in Indiana and all across America’s heartland.