Manufacturing--Continued

Floor Speech

Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend from California. I thank my friends from Colorado and from Wisconsin and from New York and certainly from Ohio who are on the floor here with us talking about making it in America.

We believe everybody ought to be able to make it in this, the greatest land on the face of the Earth. And we believe one way they're going to make it in America--I tell the gentleman, the Speaker, Mr. Driehaus from Ohio--is to make it in America and sell it throughout the world. Make sure that our manufacturing capacity is as robust as it was in former decades and as it needs to be, and as Americans know it needs to be if our economy is going to give back, and America, which is a great country, can be even greater. And that America, which has been the engine of economic opportunity, will be an even greater engine of economic opportunity for our people. It will create jobs and growth.

Manufacturing is critical, and Americans know it, critical to our economic strength. And Democrats are committed to rebuilding it as a part of America's economic recovery.

Mr. Perlmutter has a chart there which shows that we were handed a debt of an economy, the deepest recession in three quarters of a century. There are only a couple of Members, a few Members of the House, who were alive 75 years ago. There are some.

America understands why they're feeling pain because of this debt left to us by the last administration. You showed the deficit, the figures. I've served with all four of those Presidents, I tell my friend Mr. Garamendi. I served with all four of those Presidents. One of them was a Democrat--the only one who's above the line, the only President in the lifetime of anybody in this institution that has had a net surplus. The only one.

Now we show four Presidents here, but very frankly you can go back for as long as you've been alive, no President ended with a net surplus as Bill Clinton did--a $5.6 trillion surplus left by that administration. An ability to address our problems.

Unfortunately, we failed to do so. Unfortunately, we had an administration that thought just helping the wealthiest in America, buying things and not paying for them, going to war and not paying for it, doing a prescription drug bill--which has done some good things--but not paid for, was the thing to do. And, therefore, we find the economy tanked. And in 1 month in America we lost 786,000 jobs. That was the last month of the Bush administration; 3.8 million jobs lost in the last year of the Bush administration.

And what does that mean?

If you look at the last year of the Clinton administration, we had 1.9 million new jobs created.

So Americans know that we've got to put America back to work. And one of the best ways to do that, Americans are telling us--Republicans talk about listening to America--one of the best ways to do that is to start making it in America and sending it to other nations. Not the other way around. Putting our people back to work.

Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate that.

In coming weeks we will be bringing to the floor the Make It in America agenda. A comprehensive strategy to boost American manufacturing. It's based on the idea that when more products are made in America, more well-paying, blue collar jobs, white collar jobs, no-collar jobs are going to be created; and it will be possible for more people to make it in America.

This bill, the Manufacturing Enhancement Act, is the first piece of that agenda. It includes hundreds of tariff suspensions and reductions so that American companies will find it easier to obtain the materials they need to produce goods, grow, and add workers, which we passed today. So we've already started on that agenda.

And by the way, I noticed that our Republican friends out of habit voted ``no.'' Then they started talking to one another and said, Hey, you know what this bill does? It starts to grow our economy. By the way, the National Association of Manufacturers are for this bill these Democrats put on the floor. They're for it because they know it helps to build jobs. And, oh, by the way, the Chamber of Commerce is for this bill. Why? Because it starts to build jobs. That's the agenda the Democrats are on. And did you notice how they sort of all talked and said, Hey, gee, maybe I better vote for that bill and we saw those ``noes'' go to ``aye,'' ``noes'' go to ``yes.'' It was a strange experience for them. I hope it's catching.

I hope they will keep doing it. I hope they will keep saying ``yes'' to the American worker. I hope they will keep saying ``yes'' to growing manufacturing capability in America. I hope they will say ``yes'' to the proposition that we can, we should, and we will make it in America.

America is the greatest land on the face of the Earth, and our people are some of the most talented, innovative, entrepreneurial people on Earth, and if we give them the tools and we give them the opportunity, they will compete with anybody in the world.

That's why we, Democrats, are committed to an agenda that says, yes, we can, we will make it in America, and in that enterprise, a manufacturing expansion, more people will make it in America.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT.

For generations, Americans have looked to our manufacturing sector as a source of pride, a source of economic vitality, and a source of good-paying jobs.

Along with every part of our economy, manufacturing has taken a severe hit from the recession--but more than that, many Americans worry that industry and the jobs it provides are gone for good.

We have a chance to change that--to emerge from these hard times as a stronger, more competitive company.

That's why Democrats are launching the Make It in America Agenda: a comprehensive manufacturing strategy based on the idea that when more products are made in America, more people will be able to make it in America.

The Make It in America Agenda will create incentives for investment in industry, strengthen manufacturing infrastructure and innovation, and help to level the playing field for American companies that compete globally.

Today, the first part of that agenda passed the House--and, I'm proud to say, it passed with strong bipartisan support.

The U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act will make it easier for American companies to get the materials they need to produce goods, contributing to a more productive economy and supporting job creation.

In the weeks to come, Democrats look forward to introducing a range of similar bills that will help manufacturers invest in clean energy, break down foreign barriers to American goods, ensure that taxpayer money pays for goods made in America, and more.

A strong manufacturing sector means a stronger economy and more secure jobs for all of our constituents--so I hope that the Make It in America Agenda will have support from Republicans and Democrats alike.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT.

Source