Make it in America: Manufacturing Matters

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Absolutely.

I think my response to some of those changes that you just shared is that it creates this sea change. It creates the U-turn in the road, if you will, and it gets everyone's attention. People understand that.

Now we're operating under a different set of principles--you need to invest in America, invest in her workforce and in the job opportunities that will follow. That's what it basically says. When you look at machine tool operations and activity and when you look at it over the last, again, decade or so, you will find, in both categories, Representative Garamendi--of the consumption and production of machine tools--that we're not in the top three. That ought to be a flag that goes up that draws our attention, hopefully, expressing a dire sense of urgency. When you see Japan and China and Germany not only producing the machine tools but also consuming, it tells you where the activity is, and it is robust. That's all a matter of policy. Those are intentional outcomes that were driven by a very focused agenda in these nations, and America--the United States--needs to get back to that agenda.

I applaud the President for setting the tone in his recent State of the Union message. I applaud the leadership in this House, which is coming under the banner of the Democratic leadership, that has engaged in ``Make It In America'' as our mantra. Reigniting our American Dream is within our grasp if we begin to advocate a stand that brings back a robust quality to manufacturing opportunities in this country.

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