Bipartisan Bill Calls for National Manufacturing Strategy
During the past decade, 5.5 million American manufacturing jobs have disappeared, mostly due to bad trade and tax policies that encourage U.S. companies to move jobs overseas. Further fueling job loss has been the global economic crisis and lack of a comprehensive national manufacturing strategy.
Yesterday, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) introduced legislation requiring the development of such a strategy. Says Brown:
If we’re going to out-compete and out-innovate other countries, it will require a national manufacturing strategy. The United States has been without one, and our economy has paid the price.
Scott Paul, executive director for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), says the United States is the only industrial nation in the world without a cohesive manufacturing strategy.
To rebuild our manufacturing base and create good middle-class jobs, our federal government needs to deploy a coordinated set of trade, tax, training, procurement, and investment policies.
The bill—the National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2011—would require the secretary of commerce to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the nation’s manufacturing sector and submit to Congress a National Manufacturing Strategy to increase manufacturing jobs, identify emerging technologies to strengthen U.S. competitiveness, and strengthen the manufacturing sectors in which the United States is most competitive. Says Kirk:
Kirk to Succeed Kennedy in U.S. Senate
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today named Paul Kirk to serve as interim U.S. senator, filling the open seat left by the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Kirk, who served as an adviser to Sen. Kennedy as well as a chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is expected to be sworn in tomorrow afternoon. He will serve until a permanent replacement is elected in a special election, set for Jan. 19. The state legislature approved a bill allowing for the appointment of an interim senator this week, ensuring that Massachusetts will have its full congressional delegation during these critical months.
