House Democrats Push ‘Make It in America’ Agenda

by James Parks, Aug 3, 2010

With the economy tanking, jobs as scarce as a real U.S.-made product in Wal-Mart and an election in three months, Congress has finally begun to pay attention to the massive decline of American manufacturing.

In the past week and a half, the U.S. House passed a handful of bills to boost domestic manufacturing. The bills are part of the House Democrats’ “Make It in America” initiative, a 17-bill package designed to help manufacturers recover from the Great Recession and the loss of 5.6 million manufacturing jobs in the past decade.

After the six-week August recess, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold important hearings on the issue of China’s manipulation of its currency. The AFL-CIO has been urging Congress to take quick, strong action to stop the unfair and illegal advantage against U.S. producers that China and other nations gain by undervaluing their currency.

The AFL-CIO is backing S. 3134, the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010, which AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says “would give our government the tools and resolve it needs to address currency manipulation.”

Another major bill to come to the floor after the recess is H.R. 5893, the Investing in American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Introduced by Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.), the bill would close loopholes that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas. The legislation would spur job creation here in the United States by extending successful Recovery Act provisions, including the Build America Bonds program to fund domestic infrastructure improvements and the Emergency Fund for Job Creation and Assistance program to help states immediately support job programs. 

 One of the key bills the House passed is the National Manufacturing Strategy Act, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.). This bill, for the first time, would require the administration to develop a national manufacturing strategy and submit it to Congress for approval.

For 110 years, the United States has been the leading manufacturing country in the world, but as Lipinski warns: “The United States is about to lose that perch to China.” A recent poll by Mark Mellman and Whit Ayers shows that 86 percent of the respondents want to increase support for manufacturing. A whopping 95 percent believe Congress and the president should spend more time creating jobs, and 85 percent believe they should focus on creating manufacturing jobs.

The other bills the House passed include:

• The Emergency Trade Deficit Commission Act creates a commission that would identify the causes and consequences of the trade deficit and develop policies and recommendations for reducing trade deficits.
• The Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act promotes exports of clean energy goods and technology with a $75 billion fund.
•  The Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act is designed to bring together education, labor, workforce and other groups to align training and education with local employers’ needs in specific industries.    

Both the House and Senate also passed the U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act, which reduces miscellaneous tariffs on a group of products no longer made in the United States but needed by U.S. manufacturers.

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