[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S105-S106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
APPOINTMENT OF JEFFREY R. IMMELT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to salute Jeffrey R. Immelt
for agreeing to chair the President's new Council on Jobs and
Competitiveness.
Mr. Immelt knows quite a bit about creating jobs, promoting
innovation, and competing in the marketplace. As the chairman and chief
executive officer of General Electric, Mr. Immelt has led the company
through a major expansion into growth markets overseas and made GE a
leader in manufacturing a new generation of environmentally friendly
technologies. Now, as we transition from stabilizing our economy to
increasing employment and growth, Mr. Immelt's experience leading GE
will help him counsel the President through our long-term recovery.
Mr. Immelt knows that innovation is the key to America's economic
growth.
[[Page S106]]
Consequently, GE relies heavily on the U.S. patent system. I have been
very happy to work with Mr. Immelt and GE as strong proponents of
bipartisan patent reform legislation.
I recently met with Mr. Immelt and was impressed by his determination
to make GE even more competitive in the future than it has been in the
past. He has original ideas on investing in research and development
and understands that reviving and updating America's manufacturing
economy is critical to creating jobs in this country. I have always
been impressed with his commitment to manufacturing in Rutland, VT,
where GE Aviation has a major plant.
In honor of his willingness to serve in this new capacity, I ask
unanimous consent to have printed in the Record Mr. Immelt's recent op-
ed, ``A blueprint for keeping America competitive.''
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Washington Post, Jan. 21, 2011]
A blueprint for Keeping America Competitive
(By Jeffrey R. Immelt)
President Obama has asked me to chair his new President's
Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. I have served for the
past two years on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory
Board, and I look forward to leading the next phase of this
effort as we transition from recovery to long-term growth.
The president and I are committed to a candid and full
dialogue among business, labor and government to help ensure
that the United States has the most competitive and
innovative economy in the world.
Business leaders should provide expertise in service of our
country. My predecessors at GE have done so, as have leaders
of many other great American companies. There is always a
healthy tension between the public and private sectors.
However, we all share a responsibility to drive national
competitiveness, particularly during economic unrest. This is
one of those times.
My hope is that the council will be a sounding board for
ideas and a catalyst for action on jobs and competitiveness.
It will include small and large businesses, labor, economists
and government. Areas that we will focus on include:
Manufacturing and exports: We need a coordinated commitment
among business, labor and government to expand our
manufacturing base and increase exports. The assumption made
by many that the United States could transition from a
technology-based, export-oriented economic powerhouse to a
services-led, consumption-based economy without any serious
loss of jobs, prosperity or prestige was fundamentally wrong.
But there is nothing inevitable about America's declining
manufacturing competitiveness if we work together to reverse
it. For example, we have returned many GE appliance
manufacturing jobs to the States by collaborating with our
unions and making our operations more efficient.
Working with Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, who leads the
President's Export Council, the Council on Jobs and
Competitiveness will look for ways to harness the power of
international markets--home to more than 95 percent of the
world's consumers. Currently, the United States ranks lowest
among the world's largest manufacturing nations in the ratio
of domestically produced goods sold overseas, or export
intensity. We must set as our highest economic priority not
just increasing our exports, as the president has pledged,
but also making the United States the world's leading
exporter in the 21st century.
Free trade: America cannot expand its manufacturing base
without reatly increasing the volume of goods it sells
overseas. That is why I applaud the free-trade agreement
recently concluded between the United States and South Korea,
which will eliminate barriers to U.S. exports and support
export-oriented jobs. We should seek to conclude trade and
investment agreements with other fast-growing markets and
modernize our systems for export finance and trade control.
Those who advocate increasing domestic manufacturing jobs by
erecting trade barriers have it exactly wrong.
Innovation: Businesses should invest more of their cash and
resources in advanced products and technologies that will
create jobs in the United States, and government should
incentivize this investment in innovation. Today, GE is
investing more than ever in research and development--about 6
percent of revenue--aimed at solving challenges in
transportation, energy and health care. As one of America's
largest exporters, GE remains committed to producing more
products in the United States, which is our home and largest
market. In the past two years, GE has created about 6,000
manufacturing jobs in the States, many resulting from
investments in innovations such as advanced batteries, which
we will make at our 100-year-old plant in Schenectady, N.Y.
GE sells more than 96 percent of its products to the
private sector, where America's future must be built. But
government can help business invest in our shared future. A
sound and competitive tax system and a partnership between
business and government on education and innovation in areas
where America can lead, such as clean energy, are essential
to sustainable growth.
It is possible to be a competitive global enterprise and
still care about your home. In fact, it is not just possible
but imperative. There is no easy solution to ``fix'' the
American economy. Persistent and high unemployment--and the
pessimism it breeds--should not be accepted. We must work
together to construct an economy that creates more
opportunity for more people.
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