TMA Vice Chairman testifies on Capitol Hill

Recently, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held a legislative hearing on Rep. Dan Lipinski’s American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act, H.R. 5865. TMA Board of Directors Vice Chairman and the Government Relations Committee Chairman, Zach Mottl testified. This bill is a bipartisan measure to require a public-private Board to develop a national manufacturing competitiveness strategy on a quadrennial basis, intending to bring industry and government together to identify policies and other efforts that will make the United States a better environment for manufacturing growth and job creation.  Such a strategy would include a far-reaching analysis of factors that affect the manufacturing competitive environment, including research and development, energy, taxes, workforce development, measures competing nations are taking, infrastructure, among many other areas. H.R. 5865 is a revised version of the National Manufacturing Strategy Act, H.R. 1366, that Rep. Lipinski introduced earlier this year, and which also passed the House by a vote of 379-38 during the 110th Congress.
 
The passage of this legislation and the creation of a national manufacturing strategy is a part of Congressman Lipinski’s 5-point Jobs Plan.  Numerous organizations have either called for a national manufacturing strategy, or proposed their own strategies.  The original version of this bill has been a part of the House Democrats’ Make it in America agenda.  A poll by the Alliance for American Manufacturing showed that 78% of Americans support a national manufacturing strategy.
 
Chairwoman Bono-Mack expressed an interest in moving this bill to a markup “in the very near future” so we are hopeful that this bipartisan measure will come to the floor later this summer. 

To read Zach’s testimony or watch the hearing, visit the Resources tab at www.tmanet.com.