[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12965]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MAKING AMERICA STRONGER

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, in September I issued a major report on 
restoring U.S. manufacturing. I commend this report to my colleagues. 
It can be found at www.Lieberman.Senate.gov.
  The collapse of our manufacturing sector is heart breaking. We have 
lost 14,00 manufacturing jobs in the last 3 months and 2.8 million 
since July of 2000. And this is during what is supposed to be an 
economic recovery. In terms of jobs, the U.S. manufacturing sector has 
slipped every month for the last 38 months. In my own State of 
Connecticut we have lost more than 14 out of every 100 manufacturing 
jobs in the past 3 years, and it is cold comfort that we are not the 
worst.
  Our manufacturing sector is hemorrhaging jobs at a dismaying rate. 
And not just jobs but industries. Economists at the Federal Reserve 
Bank of New York recently published an analysis of the current 
``jobless recovery.'' Their conclusion is stark:

       ``Our inquiry into the reasons for the current labor market 
     slump suggests that structural change has played an important 
     role. Industries that lost jobs during the recession have 
     continued to shrink during the recovery, and permanent job 
     losses have eclipsed temporary layoffs.''--``Has Structural 
     Change Contributed to a Jobless Recovery?'' (Erica L. Groshen 
     and Simon Potter)

  As the report highlights, there are many reasons behind these closed 
plants, these lost jobs, these devastated families. Fierce competition 
from overseas competitors--some of them playing on fields tilted 
distinctly in their favor--has played a major role. So did the severe 
recessions we are only now climbing out of. The collapse of the telecom 
industry had severe consequences for manufacturers that served the 
electronics and information technology industries. This report 
discusses a number of challenges and problems facing American industry.
  But the most imperative question remains, ``What does the Bush 
administration intend to do about it?'' Its recent acknowledgment of 
foreign country manipulation of their currencies is welcome, but the 
Administration is not utilizing its current authority to remedy this 
abuse; this is the key point of my legislation, S. 1592, the Fair 
Currency Enforcement Act of 2003, discussed in depth in this report. 
Creating an Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Office of 
Industry Analysis simply rearranges existing boxes, and submerges them 
deep in the Commerce Department. This report recommends making the 
Commerce and Defense Secretaries themselves responsible. Their plan 
remains lacking in content and vision. It is all about gestures, not 
actions.
  Forgive me, but the time has come to be blunt. Every sector of the 
American economy plays a role in the strength and security of our 
nation, but the role played by manufacturing is unique, and uniquely 
important. To do nothing, to roll over and play dead, is not the 
American way. Sadly, it seems to be the approach favored by the current 
Administration.
  The problems we face are complex, the response needs to be thorough, 
broad-based, and coordinated. That is what this report is really about. 
Here we present the broadest, most comprehensive and insightful plan to 
revitalize U.S. manufacturing yet proposed.
  We need to understand that trade is not the problem, it is part of 
the solution. And we need to deal with the obstacles raised in some 
countries to a free and fair trade in American goods. We need to invest 
in the future of manufacturing, in the research and development of new, 
path-breaking manufacturing processes. We need to invest in our 
workforce, in the training and education needed to excel and prosper in 
a world labor market. We need to reinvigorate partnerships between 
state and Federal Government, and between government and industry.
  Indeed, this is not a task for government alone. The proposals 
outlined in this report call upon industry and academia, upon labor and 
management, upon the private and public sectors to contribute to the 
solutions we need.
  It will require all of us, pulling together.
  I want to thank Michael Baum, along with William Bonvillian and Chuck 
Ludlam of my staff, for their efforts in preparing what I believe will 
be a useful and timely report.

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