[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H3795-H3801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MAKE IT IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin our remarks today 
which will focus on our Make It in America agenda, the agenda that we 
put together to put the American people back to work to really support 
manufacturing, and we are going to have a good discussion about that.
  I would like to yield first to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. 
Sewell) who has some important remarks to share.
  Ms. SEWELL. Thank you so much for yielding.
  I rise before you today to discuss the recent disasters, natural 
disasters, that have affected families, businesses and communities 
across this Nation. In the aftermath of such disasters, there must be a 
shared commitment to rebuilding communities across this Nation.
  My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Joplin, Missouri, who 
suffered the most recent wrath of nature. We in the Seventh 
Congressional District of Alabama suffered massive devastation during 
the April tornados. Nine out of 12 counties in my district suffered 
tremendous damage. These pictures only show part of the story. Homes 
were destroyed. Schools, churches, businesses, and communities were 
destroyed; and many of my constituents lost the lives of their friends 
and loved ones.
  I want to thank the President and the First Lady for visiting my 
district and seeing the devastation firsthand. Mr. President, you told 
us then that you had not seen such devastation before. You also said 
that you would make sure that we were not forgotten.
  Thank you, Mr. President, for your commitment to rebuilding Alabama. 
I want to thank your administration for responding so quickly.
  Within hours, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate was on the scene to 
survey the widespread damage. The emergency disaster declaration and 
the major disaster declaration were approved within hours.
  I also want to thank Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, 
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and SBA 
Administrator Karen Mills for traveling to my district days later.
  As a result of the April tornados, 67 lives were lost in my district 
alone; and in the State of Alabama, 238 people lost their lives. I want 
to extend my deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved 
ones. I want to thank all of the first responders who were on the scene 
to help so many of the victims.

  I also want to thank the volunteers who continue to work tirelessly 
to restore the lives of families who lost all that they had. The 
destruction and loss of lives has been absolutely heartbreaking. But 
out of this tragedy, we will triumph. We will recover, rebuild, and 
restore our communities. We will be better and stronger than before. I 
am inspired every day by the resilience that my district in the State 
of Alabama and the people have shown. Neighbor helping neighbor.
  The response by the State and local government has been tremendous. I 
want to thank Governor Bentley of Alabama for his leadership and timely 
response. The coordinated efforts of my local mayors have been amazing. 
I would like to thank Mayor William Bell of Birmingham, Mayor Walt 
Maddox of Tuscaloosa, Mayor Cunningham of Geiger. Your leadership and 
tireless efforts have been commendable.
  I also would like to commend the Alabama Emergency Management Agency 
under the leadership of Art Faulkner. I would be remiss if I did not 
mention the incredible support and help of my colleagues within the 
Alabama delegation.
  What we have learned is that what affects one of us indeed affects 
all of us. Together, I know we will work to rebuild Alabama.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlewoman, and I know we all stand in 
strong support of the work that is under way in your district and all 
across this country and our hearts and prayers continue to go to the 
families who have suffered such tragic losses during those terrible, 
terrible incidents. We compliment the first responders and the mayors 
and all those you have recognized tonight.
  I would like now, Mr. Speaker, to turn to the agenda that we 
announced several weeks ago that involves really comprehensive pieces 
of legislation to really support American manufacturing.
  Our country has a proud tradition of making things. We built the 
world's strongest middle class because, in large part, so much of what 
the world needed, we made here in America. And for millions of 
Americans, our tradition of making things here has been a source of 
opportunity and great pride. Today, with millions of Americans still 
out of work and with an economy which is still struggling, it's time to 
draw from that tradition to build a positive, job-creating agenda.
  The American Dream used to mean something, that if you put in a hard 
day's work you could expect good American wages, benefits, and a better 
life for your family. It meant that when products said ``Made in 
America,'' people knew that they were getting the highest quality 
manufactured goods money could buy. It's time working Americans used 
our strength in numbers to reclaim the American Dream. Working people 
deserve a voice at the table; and if we lose that voice, we will lose 
what our grandparents fought so hard to leave us.
  We should start with manufacturing. The number of Americans involved 
in producing goods is still near its lowest point since World War II. 
Manufacturing is central to our economy. The National Association of 
Manufacturers tells us that manufacturing stimulates more economic 
activity than any other sector. It's time we started expanding 
opportunity and stopped shrinking the middle class.
  So this effort is to really understand that we have to start making 
things again, that manufacturing matters. My friend, Mr. Garamendi, 
certainly our leader in this Make It in America agenda, is someone who 
has spoken so passionately and so forcefully about our ability again to 
lead the world in making goods so that we can start shipping goods that 
are made in this country all over the world. Instead of exporting jobs, 
let's export American-made goods.
  I tell my constituents--I hear from them all the time--go into a 
store and try to find something made in America. It's almost 
impossible, and it doesn't have to be that way. We still have the best 
workers in the world, we still make the best products in the world, and 
what we need are good public policies that support American 
manufacturing, that support job growth in American manufacturing to 
give fair trade and tax policies that give American manufacturers a 
fighting chance to compete in a global economy and efforts to be sure 
that our trading partners like the Chinese stop cheating and play by 
the rules and are held accountable when they do.
  So we put together an ambitious agenda to really make things again in 
this country. Because when we make things in America, families can make 
it in America.
  We have a series of bills we want to talk about tonight, but think of 
those days when you would go into a store and you would pick up an item 
and it said ``Made in the USA'' and the kind of pride we felt because 
we knew that was a product that was made well, built well, that would 
stand the test of time, and we could sell it all over the world. We can 
do that again.

[[Page H3796]]

  We are doing it. We have some great manufacturing in this country. We 
are seeing a real growth, particularly in new manufacturing, high-tech 
manufacturing, which requires innovation and entrepreneurship and the 
kinds of investments in technology that will help us lead the world in 
this new knowledge-based economy. So this effort is to really 
understand this is part of our history, it's part of the present day, 
and it is part of our future as a great economic power.
  I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi) who has been 
such an important voice on the importance of rebuilding and 
strengthening manufacturing in this country.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Cicilline, it does not surprise me at all that you 
have a passion for this issue. You come from a part of the United 
States that really started the industrial revolution, the Northeast, 
and your State in particular, the industrial revolution started there.
  And over the years it gave great strength to this Nation, and it was 
the manufacturing that provided the economic underpinnings for the 
growth of the American economy. Unfortunately, your part of the State, 
perhaps for a variety of reasons, some of them having to do with 
national policies, began to lose its industrial base.
  But with your representation and your passion for this issue, I have 
absolutely no doubt that once again the Northeast will find the 
resiliency and the right national policies to rebuild the manufacturing 
base there and across the rest of the Nation.
  We are already beginning to see it as a result of the stimulus 
program, and some of the specific laws that were built into that 
program are now rebuilding the manufacturing base in the Midwest.

                              {time}  2050

  Specifically, a requirement that for the high-speed rail systems and 
the rebuilding of the American intercity rail programs, those goods, 
trains, rails, electronic systems, control systems, have to be built in 
America. And guess what? International companies are establishing, 
reestablishing, and building manufacturing facilities in America to 
take advantage of that money that was in the stimulus bill. Simple, 
little things, not an increase, but rather using our Federal money 
wisely. We can do it. We must do it. We will make it in America once 
again, and it will be the great American manufacturing sector. And when 
we do this, America will make it.
  There has been a lot of discussion here on the floor today about 
deficits. What are we going to do about the deficits? Are we going to 
raise the debt limit? Of course we're going to raise the debt limit. We 
have to. America stands behind its debts. We will pay. It will engender 
a debate. Fine. Let's make this part of the debate. Let's make this 
part of the debate.
  In dealing with America's deficit, are we willing to put in place the 
policies that will rebuild the American manufacturing sector? And I 
know it is the Democratic agenda to do just that, that we will rebuild 
the American manufacturing sector. And in doing so, we will rebuild the 
American economy and provide one of the critical bricks in solving the 
deficit problem. Without a growing economy, without a strong middle 
class, the deficit will never be solved. So we ought to do it.
  How can we do it? Well, how about our legislative agenda? Why don't 
you start us off on a couple of the bills and see where it takes us?
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman.
  I think one of the important investments that we need to make in 
supporting manufacturing that you just referenced is infrastructure. 
And one of the parts of the Make It in America agenda is the making of 
a national infrastructure bank which will create a public-private 
partnership to finance the construction of roads, bridges, transit, and 
the ability to move information, goods, and services in the 21st 
century.
  If we're going to successfully compete in the manufacturing sector, 
we need to have an infrastructure that has the ability to move goods, 
services, and information to be competitive and succeed in the 21st 
century economy.
  When you look at what other nations who are investing in 
manufacturing, are investing in their infrastructure to support 
manufacturing, in roads, in bridges, in transit, in information 
technology, and the ability to move goods and services competitively, 
they are racing by us, literally and figuratively. And what we need is 
an infrastructure that will support this growth in manufacturing, an 
infrastructure that will really allow American manufacturers to compete 
successfully in the 21st century.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. If you would yield, the infrastructure bank is a great 
idea, and it is one which allows us to build immediately. And over 
time, as those projects pay off, they repay the loans. It is a very, 
very wise investment to create an infrastructure bank. Other countries 
have it. And in the United States, there are certain localities and 
States that also have it.
  Another piece of legislation dealing with infrastructure actually is 
a bill that I put together that says, we spend a lot of money. It's 
part of the excise tax money that goes out to build highways, to pay 
for buses, trains, light rails and the like. And my bill is pretty 
simple. It's our tax money. Use that tax money to buy American-made 
equipment. Why would we send our tax money off to China to buy a 
Chinese bus? Hey, we make great buses. We make a great bus in the Bay 
Area. The GILLIG Corporation makes a bus that is a superb bus. And we 
need to spend our taxpayer money buying American-made buses, trains, 
light rails and the like.
  We're going to spend billions. Is the money going to be spent in 
America or is the money going to be spent overseas? My legislation says 
buy American-made equipment. Pretty simple. After all, it's our tax 
money. One of several bills--the infrastructure bank and this 
particular bill--in building the American infrastructure.
  I notice one of our colleagues here from the State of Hawaii.
  Mr. CICILLINE. Yes, I know she, I'm certain, is going to join the 
conversation.
  I think the point you made, Mr. Garamendi, is an important one. These 
are not always pieces of legislation that require additional 
investments of resources. It's also about ensuring that the resources 
that we're expending are used in ways that support the growth of 
American jobs and American manufacturing, and your bill is an excellent 
example of that.
  I think we also have, as part of this package, kind of as a beginning 
point, the development of a national manufacturing strategy, a 
legislation that would direct the President to convene the stakeholders 
in industry, in labor, and manufacturers to really develop a national 
manufacturing strategy with benchmarks and with ways to hold ourselves 
accountable to meeting those benchmarks; because, again, all of our 
competitors who are serious about growing manufacturing are doing it 
pursuant to a well-conceived and developed manufacturing strategy.
  We need to put the same kind of thoughtful consideration in the 
development of that strategy and then really hold ourselves accountable 
with good benchmarks. And I think that's a great other piece. Of 
course, my favorite in the package is my very own Make It in America 
block grants.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. It's always good to talk about your legislation. This 
is a great way to get things started. This is a great way to do it. It 
came from a fellow from the East Coast, the great State of Rhode 
Island, and it basically is a block grant program to jump-start the 
infrastructure programs all across the Nation.
  The thing that's really good about this is it's a competitive block 
grant. You're just not going to go out with earmarks because somebody 
has seniority, but it's going to be based on the quality of the 
program, the jobs that are brought, the necessity of moving people. I 
think it must have been a genius out of Rhode Island. Was it you, Mr. 
Cicilline, who came up with that idea?

  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman for that excellent question. But 
this legislation really grew out of my visits to manufacturers in Rhode 
Island, some who have been very successful, some that are growing, some 
that have not been growing. And I said, What are the impediments? What 
would allow you to grow? What do you need as an American, as a Rhode 
Island manufacturer? And developed this idea

[[Page H3797]]

of the Make It in America block grant that would provide resources in a 
competitive process as you described, for manufacturers to retrofit 
their factories to make energy improvements in their plants, to train 
workers on new equipment, to buy new equipment, to engage in activities 
which will allow them to increase their exports, but really a shot in 
the arm to help manufacturers to compete successfully in the 21st 
century by identifying what they need.
  And, look, we invest lots of resources in other areas of our economy. 
We don't do enough for American manufacturing. This would respond to 
many of the urgent issues that Rhode Island manufacturers, American 
manufacturers are facing, do it in a competitive way with real 
measurement of outcomes, but really invest again in making things in 
this country.
  I know the gentlelady from Hawaii has now joined us, who has also 
been an important part of the Make It in America agenda.
  I would like to yield to Congresswoman Hanabusa.
  Ms. HANABUSA. Thank you very much. It's very fascinating to watch the 
both of you go back and forth on this.
  Hawaii doesn't have manufacturing like the traditional form of 
manufacturing. However, there is one part of our economy that is very 
critical, and it's under fire. And I would like to discuss that, 
because I have some statistics as to how, when we protect what is made 
in America, we are able to actually see the results.
  And I'm talking about the Jones Act, which has different 
ramifications for all over, but for Hawaii, because we are in the 
middle of the Pacific, what we tend to forget is that our oceans are 
our highways. And what people think is that, gee, if we had ships 
coming in from foreign-flagged vessels, we might have a reduction in 
the costs. And that is exactly where we do not want to go.
  Let's talk about manufacturing and how it affects us. First of all, 
shipbuilding, the gentleman from California and I sit on the Armed 
Services Committee, and tomorrow in one of the subcommittees, they're 
going to discuss the 30-year plan of shipbuilding in the military. And 
the military, I know from conversations with my own hometown people who 
are in the maritime industry that they have been called to Washington 
because the NAVSEA component wants them to continue to build in 
America. They want them to build the ships because we can't, the 
military can't continue to keep this industry alive. They need help 
from the private sector. So let's look at: Why wouldn't the private 
sector do this?
  And one of the pieces of legislation that has been there to keep the 
private sector in the manufacturing of ships has been the Jones Act.
  Now, let's understand what it means for a State like Hawaii, and then 
maybe we can, by going through that, understand what the ramifications 
are when we talk about Make It in America, because people may not see 
that actual connection to how we benefit from it.
  We have, for example, in my district alone, 16,494 domestic maritime 
industry jobs. This is the second highest of all congressional 
districts. This is according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers Transportation 
Institute survey or statistic that they did.

                              {time}  2100

  Now, the total gross economic output from domestic maritime activity 
is $3.389 billion annually for the State of Hawaii. Gross output is 
defined as the sum of receipts or sales and other gross income 
generated in this maritime sector. Executives and other workers related 
to the domestic maritime industry receive total compensation of $785.9 
million annually. The total value added for goods and services moving 
by domestic waterborne transportation is $1.24 billion annually.
  The State of Hawaii is a top contributor to the domestic maritime 
industry, ranking basically in the top eight of four categories, top 
eight. Think about how small we are: jobs, economic output, labor 
compensation, and value added. There are over 23,000 domestic maritime 
jobs in the State of Hawaii, and the total gross economic output for 
the State is well over $4.7 billion annually. And the related labor 
compensation is $1.1 billion annually, and the annual value added is 
about $1.7 billion.
  Now, nationally, the domestic maritime industry accounts for about 
499,676 jobs; $29.1 billion in labor compensation; $100.3 billion in 
economic output; $45.9 billion in value added; and $11.4 billion in 
taxes. There are more than 40,000 vessels in America's domestic fleet, 
one of the largest in the world. But remember something, and one of my 
Senators made the statement--and I was stunned by it--he said after 
World War II in terms of ruling the high seas, America had over 90 
percent, over 90 percent; and we are now in the low 20s.
  What does that mean for us? Think about the industry. Think about the 
manufacturing. Think about the high-quality jobs that the maritime 
industry represents, and what are we doing about it. We know trade. We 
also know in terms of the military that the maritime industry is 
critical, but the military alone cannot keep that industry alive.
  That is why--let us not forget the Jones Act comes from the Merchant 
Marine Statute. And what has been done in the past? In the Persian Gulf 
war, for example, and in other types of areas where we don't have 
enough ships, we go to the private sector; and we are able to do that 
because they are American flagged, American owned, and American 
manned--manned, not to be referencing other than man or woman.
  But that's what it is all about. We are, no matter what, the greatest 
power in the world. That's what we are. That's what we represent. And 
why would we not recognize that there are many things that we do best 
and we rule the high seas, as they said. And now we are willing to 
sacrifice that to other countries? That should not be the case because 
trade, maritime, is a major component of our success and our ability to 
continue to be independent.
  And we know, the gentleman from California and I as we sit through 
many of our hearings, that the new military is looking at a marriage 
with the commercial areas, a marriage with using all of the different 
ships, plus airlines, to transport things. You know, that is the 
future; but to make that future a viable future and a cost-efficient 
future, we have got to continue to make it in America.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady.
  I think the other very important part of that conversation has to be 
a continued investment in science and research and innovation. A lot of 
the things you are talking about, kind of new manufacturing, we are 
going to continue to rely on the knowledge economy and the brilliant 
new innovators and the great new scientists and the great new 
technologies and research. We need to be sure that even in these 
difficult budget times, we are making investments in science and 
research that will help protect those jobs of the 21st century so we 
can not only develop the ideas, but then manufacture the products. I 
think that is an additional important point.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I only want to take a second here. I notice one of our 
colleagues from Texas has joined us. She is a strong advocate of 
returning American manufacturing.
  I want to thank our colleague from the great State of Hawaii for 
bring to our attention the critical importance of transportation on the 
sea and in the American flag. Just for a moment, she caused in my mind 
a memory to return about an article that I read about where the ship is 
flagged. That is where it is licensed. I recall that I think it is from 
Florida, the Carnival Cruise lines, a billion-dollar operation with the 
ships actually flagged, I believe, in Panama. Interestingly, the tax 
that they pay to the U.S. Government, that is their corporate income 
tax--zero, nada, nothing--largely because they are able to avoid the 
American laws by flagging their ship offshore.
  We need these ships flagged in America for many reasons, and 
certainly the issue that she raised about national defense. Corporate 
tax policy, the R&D tax credit, another one of the bills that the 
Democratic Caucus has put forward to permanently put in place the 
research and development tax credits so that we can expand the genesis, 
the beginning of tomorrow's manufacturing, which actually comes through 
the research. I can go on and on about that.

[[Page H3798]]

Representing California, we think research is really, really important. 
That is why we supported, without any Republican support, the STEM 
program, science and technology, which is research and also the 
education that goes with.
  One of the things that I found so disturbing was the effort by our 
Republican colleagues to back off the research, to reduce the research 
in America, when in fact that is where the future comes from.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman from California.
  I think that point cannot be stated often enough, that part of our 
ability to make it in America, not only manufacture but invent and 
create and make the new discoveries, is understanding that we need to 
maintain our investment in science and research to compete in this 
global economy. I thank you for raising it.
  I am delighted that we are joined by our colleague from the great 
State of Texas, someone who has been a very forceful and strong 
advocate for manufacturing and making it in America.

  I yield to the gentlelady from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. I thank the gentleman.
  It is my privilege to be able to join the gentleman from Rhode 
Island, a former mayor of one of our great cities, who understands when 
he looks at his constituents in city government that job creation and 
manufacturing churns the economy of local government as well.
  I am delighted to say to my friend from California, Texas is right 
with you. I don't think any State can reject the value of research. We 
have the Texas Medical Center. It has research in many different 
components, but they all come together to generate jobs and a better 
quality of life.
  And I am amazed at how astutely correct the gentlelady from Hawaii 
was on this whole idea of shipbuilding and the flags that ships fly 
under and the loss of income.
  But more importantly, most of us grew up, young as we are, with this 
country being the grand shipbuilder. We were proud of that. We loved 
those christenings; but, more importantly, to see those great ships.
  So I rise today to support you and to join also, if I might, with my 
colleague from Alabama, having had the opportunity to join her there in 
Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. Let me say to her and to those who have lost 
so much in Alabama and throughout the areas surrounding Alabama, and 
certainly to our dear friends in Missouri, and the tragedy of such a 
high cost of life, let me say to them that we will never give up on 
helping you.
  My point is this: it is interesting that today we had an example of 
the lack of seriousness that my Republican friends have regarding job 
creation.

                              {time}  2110

  No matter how we voted--I voted ``aye'' on the debt relief, or the 
debt increase--we all know that our commitment is to save Medicare and 
Medicaid, and that it is also to generate revenue.
  How do we generate revenue? We put the punch back in manufacturing. 
We manufacture and we create jobs. How did FDR do it? He put people to 
work. Eventually, the government got out of putting people to work, and 
you saw this big manufacturing boom--shipbuilding, building homes. We 
all remember the massive homebuilding that President Eisenhower engaged 
in--manufacturing, making a whole bunch of things.
  Let me tell you why this is so important and how sad I was that the 
debt relief was, in fact, a mockery, because, if you commemorated 
soldiers yesterday, let me tell you what the unemployment rate is for 
veterans: 7.7 percent. The unemployment rate for those Afghanistan 
veterans--and I would include Iraq--is 10.9 percent.
  How do you put these folks to work? You put a boost and a punch in 
manufacturing. You let these guys come back and use the skills that 
they've gained in working--or soldiering, if you will--in Iraq, in 
fighting for our freedom in Afghanistan and other places. You say to 
these guys, I don't just mourn the loss of your comrades on Memorial 
Day; I listen to the voices of your families and yourselves. When you 
come back, I've got jobs for you.
  Let me tell you how you do it, because I am big on making things. 
Here we go. Here is one of our bills that we are very interested in, 
H.R. 613. We build airports. We refurbish airports. We make them 
better. We fix our highways. We build or we engage in high-speed rail--
trains, transit--and we make it in America. Let me say this: we make 
sure that trains are made here in America, are assembled here in 
America. We go back to making the same trains that we had to make when 
everyone said, Go west, young man. Go west, young woman. That's how 
Texas got here. That's how California got here.
  So it saddens me that instead of spending the time today in looking 
at H.R. 1730, which will be discussed, or H.R. 613 or the research tax 
or the ability to give incentives for research or to help the Texas 
Medical Center or Silicon Valley, we did something that we didn't take 
seriously--the need of America to pay her bills.
  Then, of course, what does it mean when we talk about ``making it in 
America''? Boy, this is exciting to me. We begin to appreciate 
chemistry and physics because we are in the business of inventing and 
therefore of making. This picture shows research and what happens when 
you get through with research. It is extremely important that we, in 
essence, show the importance of what happens to Americans. They get to 
work.
  My point is that there are a lot of Americans who can be helped if we 
engage in job creation by making it in America. As we have all 
committed to do, I am beginning to go around to my district and am 
excited about all the manufacturers I am finding. I'll tell you, you 
just go around to say ``thank you'' to these manufacturers, ``thank 
you'' to what's happening. If we were to invest in America and make it 
in America, it would be a better deal not only for America and those 
Americans here but for our young people graduating from college and for 
our soldiers coming back.
  So I want to thank the gentleman for, I think, the right approach, 
which comes right after the mockery of a debt relief that was not 
serious. For those of us who believed it was important to be serious 
and who may have voted ``aye,'' we really wanted to be discussing job 
creation, and we really wanted to be discussing having jobs, as well as 
providing for those who are ready to work. Let's see if we can get 
something done, so I join with the gentleman in working on these 
important issues.
  I close by simply saying: what an excitement to make ships again, to 
build the trains for high-speed rail, to make America's infrastructure 
in such a way of using our manufactured products. What a way to put 
America back to work.
  I hope we will continue to press this issue. I believe the Democrats 
are going to be able to get this done--to make it in America, which 
will create more jobs for America and will generate the revenue that 
will really bring down the deficit.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady for her passion, and I am 
really hopeful that this is an issue on which we can really build some 
bipartisan support.
  We put forth from the Democratic Caucus a very ambitious and detailed 
agenda on how we can make things again in this country and on how we 
can rebuild manufacturing and can really lead the world in the 
manufacturing sector again. I hope it's not a Republican or a 
Democratic issue. I hope people understand this is good for our 
country, is good for America, is good for American workers, is good for 
our economy; and I hope we will be able to find some support on the 
other side of the aisle for making it a reality.
  I know a big piece of this is also supporting small businesses, which 
are an important part of the manufacturing sector. I would like to 
welcome the gentlelady from Alabama again and thank her for being part 
of this discussion.
  Ms. SEWELL. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the 
Make It in America Special Order hour.
  I want to acknowledge the importance of small businesses in making it 
in America. Small businesses play a critical role in our economy. They 
provide jobs, they spur innovation, and they strengthen our economy. 
Small businesses are responsible for generating half of our Nation's 
gross national product and for employing half

[[Page H3799]]

of its workforce. That is why I have introduced the Small Business 
Start-Up Savings Account Act. More folks would benefit if they were 
provided incentives to allow them to save money to start up a business.
  On average, an entrepreneur who wants to launch a new business spends 
$80,000 in first-year start-up costs. Entrepreneurs often go into large 
amounts of debt to start their businesses. They may even try to save 
money ahead of time in order to start these businesses. Many even use 
their savings from their retirement accounts to build the capital they 
need to run their businesses.
  This bill would allow entrepreneurs to save money tax free so that 
they could start their small businesses. Similar to the retirement 
accounts, this bill would allow entrepreneurs to save up to $10,000 per 
year and to grow that amount tax free. Once people start their small 
businesses, funds from their savings accounts can be used for operating 
expenses.
  In his State of the Union address, President Obama charged America 
once again to spark its creativity and imagination. He reminded us that 
we are the Nation that put cars in driveways, computers in offices, the 
Nation of Edison and the Wright Brothers, of Google and Facebook. In 
America, innovation doesn't just change our lives; it is how we make 
our living.
  The government can't guarantee a company's success, but it can knock 
down barriers that prevent hardworking Americans from starting their 
very own small businesses. Innovation is the key to keeping America 
number one, and small businesses have always been at the forefront of 
American innovation. We can't expect to stay competitive in a global 
market without making the creation of small businesses a centerpiece in 
our playbook.
  In the Seventh Congressional District of Alabama and throughout this 
country, the number one issue is job creation. Ordinary Americans with 
dreams of starting their own businesses will create most of the jobs 
that will employ the workers in America. In fact, over the past decade 
and a half, America's small businesses have created 65 percent of all 
jobs in this country. As we continue to build our economy, we must 
again build things in America, and we can do that through innovation 
and job creation through small businesses right here in America.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to pass this legislation and to help make things right here in 
America. I want to again applaud the gentleman from Rhode Island for 
leading us in this discussion tonight. It is critically important to 
the people of Alabama, whom I represent, and this Nation that we make 
things right here in America.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady.
  I think this is one of those issues where the American people are 
well ahead of the elected officials because I think most Americans 
recognize the importance of our making things again in this country. 
This agenda, this Make It in America agenda, is really about two 
things: one, rebuilding our manufacturing sector so that we can make 
products here in America and can sell them from here all over the 
world; and, second, creating good jobs so that more families are able 
to make it in America.
  Americans inherently know that manufacturing is critical to our 
Nation. It is not just that manufacturing creates good-paying middle 
class jobs and fosters innovation but that we've also been incredibly 
proud as a country about the fact that we make things and that we make 
the best products in the world.

                              {time}  2120

  We need and want more success stories like General Motors' recent 
announcement that they will be adding and preserving over 4,000 jobs 
across the United States, or Ford's decision to move 2,000 jobs back to 
the United States from Japan, Mexico, and India. In fact, Ford is 
planning to add another 7,000 jobs here in the United States. We need 
more stories like that that recognize that we make the best products 
and we have the best workers in the world.
  I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I was just listening to you discuss the situation with 
General Motors and Chrysler. That was a very courageous move that the 
Democratic Congress, together with President Obama, made when they made 
a decision to save the American automobile industry.
  Many people, particularly the Republicans here in this House, said 
don't do it, government shouldn't interfere with business, let the good 
go and the bad die. Well, this was several hundred thousand small 
businesses across the Nation that are supply chains that would have 
died. But the decision was made--a very courageous decision by the 
President--to support the foundation of one of the great industries in 
this world and one of the great industries in America. And so General 
Motors and Chrysler did receive a bailout. And here we are today with 
two companies back at it, making cars, making it in America, and by 
golly, we're going to ``Import from Detroit.'' You know, that was one 
of the greatest advertisements there ever was. But that's what this is 
all about, that's what this Make It in America agenda really is.
  There is another piece of this agenda that we really must pay 
attention to, and that is the future energy sources of America are 
going to be renewables, together with gas and nuclear, but these new 
industries need support in their early days. And this is a tax policy. 
There has been in place for about 7 or 8 years now a very robust tax 
policy to support the new renewable industries. The production tax 
credit. When you put a solar panel up on your roof and you draw down 
the energy, there is a tax credit available to homeowners. Those are 
very, very good. We need one more little twist to it. I saw this in my 
own district with those wind turbines down there. They were being made 
offshore, and yet our tax money was--appropriately--supporting the 
energy, but if you add to it one additional fact, and that is the tax 
policy that supports a wind turbine made in America so that our tax 
money uses American-made equipment.
  Another piece of legislation I have simply says, in the green 
technologies, wonderful, we need to do it, but let's make sure that 
those solar panels, those wind turbines are made in America.
  Mr. CICILLINE. One of the most frustrating parts of that is when you 
look at the technology that forms the basis of those products, they 
were developed in large part--sometimes exclusively--by the great 
scientists and researchers at our great universities, and then they are 
manufactured outside the United States, and we're using public money to 
make those purchases. So you're absolutely right, having that 
requirement that it be manufactured in the United States is a critical 
part of it.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. A pretty basic thought for me is that it's our tax 
money; spend it on American-made equipment.
  The other piece of this is that these tax policies, these subsidies 
really work. And I want to give you an example. About a century ago, 
nearly a century ago America decided it needed a new energy source 
called oil. Over the years, subsidies were put in place to encourage 
investment in the oil industry and it worked, it worked phenomenally, 
created the best, most profitable industry in America, the petroleum 
industry; $970 billion--just slightly short of $1 trillion--of profit 
after taxes for the petroleum industry. And after a century of being 
subsidized by taxpayers, it's time for those to end. Let that industry 
help us with the deficit.
  End the subsidy for Big Oil. Return the money to the American 
Treasury. Bring down our deficit. There's a lot of money here. 
Depending on how you count it, it's somewhere between $2 billion, $3 
billion, or $12 billion a year in subsidies for this industry. Let's 
end that. But unfortunately, we're involved in a debate here in 
Congress over whether we keep the tax subsidy for Big Oil and shift the 
burden of solving the deficit to seniors, an incredible policy put 
forth by our Republican colleagues that would force seniors to pay more 
for their medical insurance and literally terminate, end Medicare for 
everyone that's not yet 55 years of age. Terminate Medicare, shift the 
tax burden to them, and keep the tax subsidy for Big Oil. Hello? What's 
that all about? Big Oil doesn't need any more help. The deficit needs 
the help. Don't give the tax breaks to Big Oil. And for

[[Page H3800]]

heaven sakes, don't terminate Medicare and force today's seniors and 
tomorrow's seniors to add the burden while keeping the benefit to Big 
Oil.
  This is about choices here. This is about choices. How do we use our 
tax money? For the future energy industries? Do we use our tax money to 
benefit Big Oil and force seniors and nursing homes to pay more? That's 
not out there 10 years from now, that's right now, because the 
Republican budget reduces Medicaid. The biggest single part of Medicare 
is to subsidize seniors and nursing homes. So seniors and nursing 
homes, their families would pay more while Big Oil is protected.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank you for raising that point.
  This is a very, very important question that we have to decide in 
this Congress: What are our priorities? What investments are we going 
to make both to rebuild our economy and get people back to work, but 
also to keep our commitment of promising aid to our seniors. This 
proposal that was made by the Republicans in this very Chamber to end 
Medicare to people 55 and under, end Medicare, and at the same time to 
reestablish the doughnut hole today so it would make prescription drugs 
more expensive for seniors, make nursing home care unavailable to many 
seniors, slash funding for Medicare, and really shift control to the 
private insurance companies to make health care decisions for 
our seniors--a terrible idea. And at the same time, as you pointed out, 
preserving tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to the Big Oil 
companies that have record profits, that don't need a check from the 
taxpayers that adds to our debt, and at the same time not making 
investments in the kinds of things we need to rebuild manufacturing and 
to make it in America.

  It's the wrong priorities. We've got to protect our seniors, keep the 
promise we made to them, make the right investments here, and get rid 
of tax subsidies for Big Oil, get rid of the waste and fraud. Make cuts 
the right way, but make the right investments at the same time.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. We heard a debate here earlier, and while we're on 
Make It in America, this kind of moves us a little bit away, but they 
were saying earlier that in the health care reform, the Affordable Care 
Act, money was taken out of Medicare. Not true. Money was taken out of 
the pockets of the insurance industry who were given, back in the Bush 
era, an additional subsidy. It terminated a subsidy of $500 million 
that the insurance companies had to participate in Medicare. Why in the 
world we would subsidize the health insurance companies who this year 
are showing record profits, I don't know, but the Republicans perhaps 
want to keep that subsidy there for the health insurance companies just 
as they want to keep a subsidy there for Big Oil, rather than taking 
care of our seniors, shifting the subsidies to tomorrow's energy 
sources.
  These are policy choices. And the policy choice of the Democratic 
Party is to protect seniors, to make sure that Medicare is there today, 
tomorrow, and forevermore. Let me be very clear about this. If you want 
to have a fight on this floor, then you fight with us over Medicare. We 
will not tolerate the termination of Medicare, period. And we don't 
want to shift costs to seniors. We want to make sure that those 
companies that are profitable, the oil industry, pays its fair share 
and terminate the subsidies to them.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman.
  I yield to the gentlelady from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. There is just a whole litany of things that 
I think have been mentioned today that are so very important.
  One, I want to again emphasize when you invest in America, you create 
jobs. Look at what is happening to the auto industry. And I am far away 
from the auto industry. I happen to be in Texas. But I can assure you 
that I can point to an auto dealership that is alive today because we 
said ``yes'' to manufacturing and owning businesses and keeping the 
doors open. Now this same auto dealership--which, by the way, is in 
American-made cars, GM--is expanding, is refurbishing, will be hiring 
new people, will be selling more cars because we were engaged.

                              {time}  2130

  And I think the point that we have to create jobs to reinvest in this 
community points again to preserving Medicare, which is not being done 
by our friends--certainly the vote that we had today had nothing to do 
with the debt ceiling, had nothing to do preserving Medicare and 
Medicaid. And I truly believe there is a nexus, there is a connection--
invest in America, create jobs, have revenue returned back to the 
economy, bring down the debt, and watch America churn like an engine 
that is purring and doing better.
  We can make it in America. We can applaud our manufacturers. We can 
grow them. And I think the investment in America's auto industry is 
evident by all of the jobs being brought back home.
  Let me end by saying to all of those who can hear us: American 
manufacturers, American corporations, bring your jobs back home and 
participate with Democrats in their serious effort to enhance making it 
in America and creating more opportunity. You are better off here. You 
can watch your company grow, and you can support the continued growth 
of America and opportunities for small businesses and the young people 
who are now coming out of our many colleges and schools ready to work.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentlelady, and I thank you for your 
passion on this issue and again for restating the urgency of job 
creation and getting the American people back to work as our number one 
priority.
  The Make It in America agenda will help do that by restoring making 
things again and understanding it has to have a central place in 
rebuilding our economy, by building an environment in which American 
manufacturers can grow and create jobs and making sure our businesses 
are competitive all across the world.
  Many of our Make It in America bills have won bipartisan support, and 
now we can win bipartisan support in the new Congress when we work for 
stronger job training partnerships, fight for a fair playing field for 
American exporters, and hold China and our other trading partners 
accountable for currency manipulation and unfair trade practices.
  Make It in America also means recommitting ourselves to the future of 
America's middle class by ensuring that we are out-educating, out-
innovating and out-building our competitors. We, of course, have to cut 
wasteful spending and restore fiscal responsibility by making priority 
investments that are necessary to keep our Nation competitive.
  As the gentleman from California has just put forth, that board which 
really does describe the issues that are part of the Make It In America 
agenda: focusing on fair trade policies; tax policies which support job 
creation in American manufacturing, that give American manufacturing 
the tools they need to succeed; energy policies that will increase 
investments in renewable energy, clean energy to make American 
manufacturers more competitive; labor policies; educational 
investments, educational investments; protection of intellectual 
property; and investments in infrastructure. Those are really the 
outlines of what we know we have to do to really support making it in 
America, to support manufacturing, and to support rebuilding and 
strengthening the middle class of this country.
  I yield to the gentleman from California.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. If anyone understands the history and the importance 
of manufacturing, it's the gentleman from Rhode Island. The Black River 
down through Rhode Island was the very first place that America started 
its manufacturing base, using water as a source.
  And today, as we look to the future of American manufacturing, we do 
have to deal with the energy issues. And we probably should take a full 
night here and just talk about how the American economy can benefit 
from a new energy strategy.
  Tax policies we've discussed here a little bit.
  One of the things we didn't discuss here on tax policy was we put 
forth a bill last year that took away $12 billion of subsidies that 
American corporations had when they shipped jobs offshore. I have no 
idea how such an incredibly stupid policy got into the Tax Code, but it 
did. It's gone. It was a Democrat agenda to eliminate those

[[Page H3801]]

tax subsidies that shipped jobs offshore. Unfortunately, not one 
Republican joined us in eliminating that crazy tax subsidy. That money 
is now back to help deal with the deficit.
  Labor policies, education--another full night can be taken on just 
education. We talked a little bit about science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics, the STEM programs. But it's much, much 
more. It's the reeducation of our workforce. Intellectual property, 
research, how you protect that, critically important. We did have a 
good discussion about infrastructure.
  This is our agenda. This is the American agenda. This is the agenda 
about the future. And it is so much an important part of dealing with 
the deficit. There is not an economist out there that tells us we can 
actually deal with the deficit unless we get people back to work. And 
the people that we want to get back to work is American middle class. 
The American middle class needs to be rebuilt along with our 
manufacturing base, and we can do it with the set of policies that 
we're putting forth here.
  We ask for our Republican colleagues to join us on these smart pieces 
of legislation.
  Mr. Cicilline, this is your night. You've led us in this. I yield 
back my remaining time for your closure.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the gentleman from California for your 
leadership on this and your participation tonight. I thank the 
gentleladies from Alabama and from Hawaii and from Texas for joining us 
as well.
  I'll just end by saying you're right. Rhode Island was really the 
birthplace of the industrial revolution. And when you look at the role 
manufacturing played in the early days of our country's economy of the 
industrial age, Rhode Island played a really important role; and from 
Woonsocket to Providence to Newport to Pawtucket, we have examples of 
great manufacturing facilities. And what we need to do is put in place 
the tools and the policies that can rebuild that strength--and not 
only in Rhode Island but all across this country--that takes advantage 
of the great American ingenuity, of the great American innovation and 
the great American entrepreneurship to make the best products to solve 
the new challenges of the 21st century, to build products and to sell 
them all over the world, to create jobs as we sell American-made 
products all across the world.

  And we can do it. We have the best workers. We make the best 
products. What we need are policies at the national level that 
recognize this is a key part to rebuilding our economy, a key part to 
the American--the rebuilding of the American economy, and understanding 
that we can make things again in this country. And by doing so, we can 
make sure that American families make it again in America.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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