LORDSTOWN, Ohio - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown brought his buy American message to a crowd in Lordstown on Friday. 

Senator Brown addressed autoworkers and was critical of their employer, General Motors.

Autoworkers support Brown's legislation that would give customers a $3,500 discount when they buy cars made in America.  The second part of the bill would revoke the GOP tax cut on overseas profits from auto manufacturers that ship jobs overseas.

"A corporation pays 21% making it in Lordstown, but if they move overseas they get a 50% off coupon and they pay just 10.5%, that's immoral," Brown said.

Senator Brown said he was disappointed when the CEO of GM, Mary Barra, told him it would be too expensive to re-tool the Lordstown plant.

"My point back to her was, opening a whole new plant in Mexico costs a whole lot more money than to re-tool the paint shop in Lordstown," Brown said.

Brown feels his bill could boost U.S. auto sales and keep more jobs in America. 

"You buy one of these cars you save $3,500 and the work is done in the U.S. If you move overseas you pay a price, you're not going to get your sugar daddy tax break anymore," said Brown.

The President of UAW Local 1112 says that autoworkers here are still in limbo about the future of Lordstown.  David Green says Lordstown is a competitive and high-quality plant and he's hopeful GM will invest in its future.

"Invest that money and then we should be good for many years to come because we've got a diverse platform set up where we can build different products at the same time," Green said. 

Lordstown currently is the only GM plant producing just one vehicle model, the Chevrolet Cruze.