Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer my amendment to this appropriations bill.

Mr. Chairman, since I have been in Congress, I have been working with manufacturers in my congressional district to ensure that we are doing all we can in Congress to support them in creating good-paying, high- skilled jobs right here at home.

Last month, I took a ``Made in the 35th'' tour and traveled across my district, meeting with manufacturers who are creating jobs here in the U.S. They told me about how they are competing with importers from Asia and an unfair playing field created by how our trading partners support their manufacturers.

I continued my tour to the Port of Los Angeles, where it became clearer where this unfair playing field has left us. Ships from Asia come in full and leave empty.

Mr. Chairman, the ships that leave Los Angeles should be full of American-made goods. This is the goal of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP: supporting American businesses through expanding markets and supporting innovation.

Two of the nine MEP success stories in California have happened in my congressional district. Insulfoam in Chino used the MEP to increase production by 20 percent, while reducing their energy costs by more than 5 percent.

Diamond Wipes, a very impressive company that I visited on my Made in the 35th tour, used the MEP to expand their wet wipes business to markets around the world.

A small investment in MEP meant real wins and expansions for these real American businesses.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment is common sense. For every dollar of MEP investment, we can generate nearly $20 million in new sales growth and $20 in new client investment. That is a $100 million return on my amendment.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment because that investment could end up in one of our communities.

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