American Manufacturing Leadership Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BALDERSON. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud original cosponsor of Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Haley Stevens' bill, the American Manufacturing Leadership Act because our nation's economy relies on the manufacturing industry and must prioritize policies that strengthen it. In my home state of Ohio, the manufacturing industry accounts for 16.6 percent of total output, and employs 12.5 percent of our workforce, or 690,200 employees. All told, the manufacturing produced $107.95 billion worth of output in Ohio in 2017 and continues to grow each day.

H.R. 2397 would strengthen our nation's largest investment in advanced manufacturing--the Manufacturing USA Program--which has thrived in the past seven years since its creation and build on that success to strengthen our manufacturing workforce. This bill would reauthorize the successful Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation of 2014 and extend it to all agencies sponsoring centers for manufacturing innovation, allowing more of those that invest in manufacturing to benefit from this program. It would further strengthen the institutes' role in advanced manufacturing workforce development-- something I'm deeply passionate about--along with outreach to and inclusion of small- and medium-sized businesses, which are vital to a prosperous American economy.

H.R. 2397 also puts important checks, balances, and oversight into place by encouraging the program office to develop pilot programs for the institutes, as well as identify for and disseminate to them best education and workforce training practices. It would also expand Manufacturing USA's authorities to collaborate with other agencies, including to develop network-wide performance goals. In addition, while this bill would authorize agencies to renew institutes for an additional period of funding, allowing those institutes to meet their ultimate goals, this would only be allowed following a rigorous review of the institute's progress toward meeting measurable goals.

The manufacturing industry is a pillar of the American economy and drives many of the other industries that make up our country's annual GDP. Without the manufacturing industry, the American economy would cease to exist. H.R. 2397 would expand on manufacturing programs with proven success and accelerate our nation's progress in advanced manufacturing. Ultimately, this legislation leverages existing programs across the federal government to help Manufacturing USA Institutes achieve its goals. Finally, as an advocate for small business and workforce development, I'm excited that this bill expands to include more small- and medium-sized manufacturers, since they are the lifeblood of our nation's economy.

Once again, I thank my colleague from Michigan for her leadership on this legislation, and I urge the committee's support of H.R. 2397.

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