Gillibrand Announces Bipartisan 'Manufacturing Universities' Legislation Passed In National Defense Bill

Statement

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced bipartisan legislation to help universities in New York and throughout the country strengthen their engineering programs to meet the demands of the modern manufacturing industry. The Manufacturing Universities legislation authorizes the Department of Defense to support training at U.S. universities to help equip students with skills to compete in the 21st century manufacturing workforce. Universities would be selected through a competitive grant-based process and would tailor their educational curriculum to the needs of modern U.S. manufacturers. The provision passed the Senate as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and now heads to the President for signature.

"The Manufacturing Universities legislation will give students many new opportunities and resources to pursue careers in manufacturing," said Senator Gillibrand. "I fought to include this provision in the NDAA because in recent years, high-tech manufacturing companies have struggled to find qualified prospective employees to fill open positions. This provision will help our manufacturers overcome this challenge and takes important steps to give students the skills they need to compete in the 21st century manufacturing workforce."

"The Manufacturing Universities legislation is a timely and welcome recognition of the importance of preparing the next generation of our manufacturing workforce and the central role of manufacturing in enabling the U.S. economy to thrive", said RIT President Bill Destler. "Any way in which we can continue to foster and strengthen the partnership between universities and the manufacturing sector are investments in our nation's future and we applaud Sen. Gillibrand's commitment and support for this legislation."

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