Tuesday, January 28, 2014
YOUNGSTOWN
Ahead of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, pushed for a clear national strategy to grow domestic manufacturing and to make America more competitive on the global stage.
Ryan on Monday joined U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Scott Paul, president of the American Alliance for American Manufacturing, in touting the importance of the manufacturing sector to the health of the overall economy.
Of top concern, they said, was funding innovation and training individuals to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving sector of the economy. A national domestic manufacturing agenda and a decisive approach to trade enforcement regarding imports and exports were also key, they said.
“It’s time for us to move past rhetoric and into action,” Ryan said.
Coons added that he hoped to see a “strong and clear message” from the president in his annual address to a joint session of Congress tonight.
In last year’s State of the Union address, Obama cited Youngstown’s manufacturing and 3-D printing hub America Makes — the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute — as a model for the development of new technology and asked Congress to help create a network of 15 more hubs.
On Jan. 15, Obama announced the creation of a second manufacturing hub in Raleigh, N.C. That institute, following the model used at America Makes, would combine leading companies, universities and federal research in a public-private partnership to develop the next generation of power electronics.
But Ryan said a series of bipartisan bills aimed at establishing similar institutions have stalled in Congress, leaving the president to rely on powers reserved to the executive branch to expand his vision for American manufacturing.
“The president is piecing together these institutions right now through the executive branch,” he said.
“Ultimately we need authorized legislation. ... We need appropriated money,” Ryan said.
Absent any legislative action, Coons expected Obama to continue to roll out “a few more” manufacturing hubs this year.
Coons said Congress has been slow to act in part because of a sense of cynicism about the potential to pass meaningful legislation. In addition, there is a pervading feeling that America no longer can compete on the same level as Germany, China and Japan, he said.
Monday’s push came at a time when manufacturing is becoming a bigger economic issue for Americans, Paul said. According to AAM-sanctioned polling data, 33 percent of struggling voters named manufacturing job loss as their top economic concern, ahead of taxes, income inequality and other economic concerns.
AAM will release a full report of that poll, conducted Jan. 6 to 9 by two research firms, later this week.