Manufacturing--Continued

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Under the present laws of the United States, the Department of Transportation has the opportunity to use our tax money to purchase rail cars made in Philadelphia, or buses made in California or in the Midwest, but they don't often do it. Instead, they use one of four waivers that are in the law that allows our tax money to be spent on things that are manufactured--buses, trains, light rail, subway cars--manufactured overseas and imported. Our tax money is going overseas. And I'm going, no way, no how.

So what you and I and others are working on is to eliminate three of those waivers and simply say, ``No, no, no, no, no. If it's our tax money, we're going to use it to buy rail cars manufactured in Philadelphia.''

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Let's do it and then we can export them, too.

I notice next to you the gentlewoman from the great State of Ohio. She is determined to change from the Rust Belt to the Future Belt. Congresswoman Betty Sutton is joining us. You are right smack in the middle of what once was the greatest industrial section anywhere in the world. Please share with us your experiences and your hopes and where you think we ought to be going.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for bringing to us the perspective of things that we have yet to do; the idea of a strategy. You mentioned several pieces of that strategy, one of which the Democrats in this House have already done, the Senate voted for it, it's been signed into law, and it happens to deal with education.

We know that if you're going to have a manufacturing strategy where you compete in the worldwide market, you need a well-educated workforce. And so the Student Aid and Financial Responsibility Act was passed here several months ago, was approved over in the Senate, and the President has signed it.

One very interesting fact about the way that bill passed this House. It passed without one Republican vote. Every Republican voted ``no'' or didn't vote at all. Only the Democrats voted to increase the Pell Grants to make it possible for students to enter college, to enter the community colleges. You can't have a first class manufacturing industry unless you have a well-educated workforce, which means education. And that's what we did. It's now the law. Every student and wannabe student across this Nation now has access to that additional money.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. You have that experience of women from Ohio, and it couldn't be better, and we certainly appreciate our colleague from Ohio, Congresswoman Sutton.

I noticed over here on my left side a gentleman who comes from the Continental Divide. Congressman Perlmutter has been very deeply involved. He was here a moment ago bringing to us a rule from the Rules Committee as a member there.

You were talking to me earlier about the way in which the economy is changing, and Colorado's become a manufacturing State. So please share with us.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you. I just want to kind of set a couple of things in place here. Before I arrived here, my three colleagues and the Democrats in this House passed an energy policy that puts America on the track to renewable energy and puts us on a track to end our addiction to foreign oil. That bill passed this House. It is a fundamental policy direction. We're moving this Nation to renewables. We're moving the Nation away from its dependence on oil. I wish I were here to vote for it, but the special election occurred after that. There will be some follow-ups.

One follow-up, and this is something that just drives me crazy, that policy to build renewables in America actually runs up against our tax policy. The American tax policy allows our tax dollars to be used to buy wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, and even buses that are manufactured overseas. I am going, I don't get it. Wait a minute. That's our tax money. We're using it to buy wind turbines that are manufactured in China?

Solar panels that are manufactured anywhere but America? That's stupid.

So one of the things my colleagues and I are working on is to change American policy here so that our tax money is spent on these green technologies that are manufactured here in America. Now, I hope the Republicans join us on this one. It remains to be seen, because they certainly have not joined us on any other job creation program that has been put through this House that's been signed by the President.

Now, my colleague from Minnesota.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Somewhere between California and Philadelphia is where Dr. Kagen is from. And you actually started a major business in America. You know what it is to make things in America. You are a physician, you are an entrepreneur, and you are one heck of a legislator. So please share with us.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. You mentioned Democratic leadership.

Just next to you is our Democratic leader, the Congressman from the great State of Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). I suspect you have a few things you'd like to say, and you may want to cover the 20 or 30 bills that under your leadership and Speaker Pelosi that the Democrats have passed out of this House with no Republican support. But I'll leave it to you to speak on the matter of manufacturing.

But before you do, if you will look over here Mr. Leader, ``Make It in America.'' Now that came from a tremendous leader. Our majority leader said in caucus one day, Make it in America. It's your slogan, it's our slogan.

I yield.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. This House more than a month ago passed a very, very important tax bill, and what it did is to end the tax subsidies--and the gentlewoman from Ohio was speaking to this--ended the tax subsidies that American corporations get when they offshore jobs. Americans that I talk to say, What are you talking about? You mean the tax policy of America actually allows corporations to take a reduction in their tax, a tax credit when they send jobs overseas? The answer is yes, but if that bill becomes law--and it's stalled in the Senate by the Republicans--if it becomes law, that will end and no longer will corporations be given a tax break to send jobs overseas. It's $14 billion a year.

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Representative Tonko, thank you so very much for bringing us that perspective.

I am going to very quickly run through a scenario of policy changes that the Democratic majority in the House has approved by overwhelming Democratic majority and which the Republican minorities have consistently voted ``no'' on, almost to a person.

First of all, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; 2.8 million jobs created out of that, every single Republican voted ``no.'' This was the stimulus bill.

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act; 98 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.'' This was to keep people in their homes, to help small businesses.

The health insurance reform; 100 percent of the Republicans voted ``no,'' and this is the bill that provides a subsidy for businesses that buy health insurance for their employees, keeping their employees healthy.

Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, giving students the opportunity to go to school, whether they are 50 years of age or 18 years of age, increasing the Pell Grants; every Republican voted ``no.'' The Democrats passed it.

Cash for Clunkers, keeping the auto industry alive; a majority of the House Republicans voted ``no,'' 95 out of their caucus. Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment, the HIRE Act, which will help create 300,000 jobs; 97 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.''

Credit cards. How many of us have been ripped off on our credit cards, the hidden interest bump that occurs after 3 or 4 months? The House Republicans voted ``no.'' The Democrats passed that, and it's now law with the President signing the Wall Street reform.

And speaking of the Wall Street reform, every House Republican voted ``no.'' The great collapse of the American economy caused by Wall Street excesses. Republicans stood with Wall Street; the Democrats stood for reform.

The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act passed by the House and Senate; 90 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.'' Small business, Republicans voted ``no.''

The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, how we can improve the efficiency of our homes and put thousands of people to work; 93 percent of the Republicans voted ``no.''

The COMPETES Act, creating an educated workforce. You and I worked on this in the Science and Technology Committee. So what do the Republicans do? They voted ``no.'' This is the law that gives us science and technology education, gives us the resources, the research for the next generation, on and on and on.

We need policies that move the manufacturing of America, that put Californians, New Yorkers, Ohioans, Minnesotans, Wisconsin and every other State, those people need to go back to work. The jobs program, the innovation programs, the manufacturing programs, those are Democratic agenda items. We vote them out of this House, the Republicans vote ``no'' on them, and then it goes over to the Senate where the power of one Senator, usually a Republican, has stalled it all.

We are not finished. We have just begun. We are going to put America back to work. We are going to make it in America, and Americans will make it. That's our agenda. That's what we are all about, and we are going to see that it gets done.

I want to thank my colleagues and thank you for joining us this evening. For the American people, we thank you for your attention.

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