[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11466-11474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           MAKE IT IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, we are going to spend about an hour 
here talking about something that is of great importance to the 
American people, to the economy, to the strength of America, and, 
indeed, the discussion we just heard about national security. It is 
about how we can build the American economy and build jobs for the 
working men and women of this country, the great middle class.
  There will be much discussion in the days ahead about the Iran 
nuclear deal. That will be something that is of importance. But today, 
one question that we ought to ask each other is: If we don't have a 
deal, then what? The answer to that is: Nothing good.
  Let's talk about Make It In America. This is an agenda that the 
minority whip put together about 4 years ago, and it is about building 
the American economy, how we can do it. The Make It In America agenda 
has moved along these last 4 years, almost 5 years now, with numerous 
pieces of legislation, and we are going to talk about those.
  Last week, the minority whip, Mr. Steny Hoyer, put together a hearing 
on this subject matter, and those Democrats that have introduced 
legislation over these many years and have reintroduced that 
legislation testified at the hearing about their pieces of legislation.
  The result of that was, wow, what if we did those things? What if we 
actually passed those pieces of legislation? What if they became law? 
Well, I tell you what it would mean. What it would mean is an enormous 
opportunity for this economy to grow and for the great American middle 
class to enjoy higher wages, more jobs, and more opportunity.
  Essentially, the legislation came down in these various ways. We had 
trade legislation. For example, the big discussion we have had over the 
last 3 months about trade policy and the Trans-Pacific Partnership is 
extremely important for American manufacturing. Done properly, it 
probably would grow American manufacturing. On the other hand, what we 
have seen in the many years previously is that trade policy can hollow 
out, destroy

[[Page 11467]]

American manufacturing. So we talked about trade policy.
  One issue of extreme importance to me is the maintenance of the Buy 
America provisions. This is law that has been in place for more than 50 
years, and it essentially says, if you are going to spend American 
taxpayer money, then spend it on American-made goods and equipment.
  Tax policy is extremely important. You can, as present tax policy is 
set in place, encourage the offshoring of American jobs. American 
corporations are taking their capital, running off to the lowest wage 
rate country in the world, planting their capital there, building their 
manufacturing facilities, and leaving behind the American worker. So 
there are numerous ideas on tax policy.
  Energy policy is another issue. We now know that we have had a very 
robust, large expansion of American energy production, natural gas and 
oil, so much so that we are likely to ship off in the days ahead 
liquefied natural gas. Well, if we do a little bit of that, it is 
probably okay. If we do too much of that, we raise American prices for 
energy, and then we are going to see less robust American 
manufacturing.
  On labor policy, it is about how we encourage labor, wage rates, and 
the reeducation for those men and women that have lost their jobs. 
Education and research and development are extremely important.
  These are the essential elements of the Make It In America policy. We 
will be talking about all of these today.
  As my colleagues come in, I want to welcome them to the floor. I see 
our colleague from the great Northeast, Ann Kuster, here. If you would 
like to talk about some of your legislation on Make It In America, we 
would be delighted to have you join us. I know that you have been 
working on this a long time in your area, and you have introduced bills 
in the last Congress and you have new bills in this Congress.
  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Garamendi, I appreciate you yielding, and I 
appreciate you taking the time to share with the American people our 
Make It In America agenda. I really want to thank you for the fantastic 
work that you have been doing on growing domestic manufacturing in the 
country.
  We are joined by our wonderful leader, Mr. Steny Hoyer, and his 
leadership on this issue is now legendary. So thank you for that.
  New Hampshire has had a long history of being a leader in the 
manufacturing industry, all the way back to the paper mills at the turn 
of the century, the textile mills. At one point in Manchester, New 
Hampshire, we made a mile of cloth a day, and we were leaders in that.
  So from the beginning of the time that I have served here in 
Congress, I have been highly focused on how we can support successful 
local businesses and embrace innovation to help move our manufacturing 
economy into the 21st century.
  In New Hampshire and across the country, we have some of the hardest 
working and most innovative companies in the world. I have had the 
opportunity to visit dozens of companies in my congressional district, 
visiting manufacturing companies, community colleges, community groups, 
and organizations all across the Granite State that are harnessing 
these new technologies to revitalize the manufacturing sector and 
breathe new life into our industry.
  In Keene, New Hampshire, in the southwest corner of my district, for 
example, we have a Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing, bringing 
together leaders from the community, from the K-12 school unit there, 
public schools, from our community college--River Valley Community 
College--our State university system--Keene State University--and 
students and leaders from all across the region learning and teaching 
the trades of tomorrow.
  Coming up in October, New Hampshire will celebrate a full 
Manufacturing Week. It is a fabulous program. It started out 1 day; it 
has now exploded into a whole week. Hundreds, if not thousands, of 
students from the high schools will come into our manufacturing 
companies and will have a chance to see firsthand what this looks like, 
these CNC machines and the computerized precision manufacturing.
  This is not your grandfather's factory. It is not dirty. It is not 
noisy. In fact, it is pristine clean. The machines are run on 
computerized programming, and every employee in the company needs to 
have the latest in education and talent. People will be able to come in 
to the companies and see what the work is that is going on.
  I have had the chance to see the CNC computerized machines working 
with wood, working with textiles, working in glass, even counting and 
organizing eggs at a wonderful Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs farm.
  The problem is that, during the last several decades, lower wages, 
lack of access to education and skill training, and changes in our 
global economy have stacked the deck against our U.S. manufacturers. 
These issues are standing in the way of innovation.
  So that is why we have all come together with this Make It In America 
agenda: to make the right policy changes to help level the playing 
field so that our manufacturers can grow and successfully create more 
jobs. That is my number one priority: jobs and economic development.
  As part of the Make It In America agenda that I am supporting, we 
have developed a strong, comprehensive plan to help manufacturers 
thrive in the 21st century. The great thing about manufacturing, as my 
good colleague, Mr. Garamendi, has pointed out, is whether you are 
working on transportation policy, education, taxes, regulatory issues, 
trade, or most any other issue, we can take actions that help 
manufacturers. And that is exactly what our Make It In America agenda 
is seeking to do.
  One bill that I introduced--and I am working hard to include it in 
the agenda, and I am working hard to pass--is the Workforce Development 
Investment Act. What this important piece of legislation would do is 
create a tax break for employers who partner with community colleges to 
provide skill training for specific jobs in their respective 
industries.
  As I go around visiting these companies, they do have jobs available, 
but they don't always have people in the community with the skills that 
they need. And so, for example, at Nashua Community College, we got 
funding to create a new program that would train people in this 
advanced manufacturing, precision manufacturing computerized 
techniques, and those people will come out with a 2-year associates 
degree and walk directly into jobs at $55,000 with great benefits and a 
great quality of life right there in New Hampshire.
  My legislation would do all of this by encouraging greater 
collaboration between community colleges and employers to make sure 
that students not only have the right skills to succeed, but are on a 
path to employment when they graduate.
  So again, I thank Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Garamendi, and everyone else who has 
worked to shape this strong manufacturing agenda. I am proud to be a 
part of it.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Ms. Kuster, thank you so very, very much. I think New 
Hampshire is very fortunate to have your leadership on manufacturing. I 
think I want to go up there and watch your Manufacturing Week. Now, I 
am not running for President, so that is not why I would go.
  I notice that we have our leader, who has put together this program 
over the last 5 years. He has geared us up with the hearing last week 
with all of the members of the Democratic Caucus that have introduced 
legislation.
  Mr. Hoyer, you are our leader. You have made Make It In America an 
American agenda. Thank you so much for that leadership. Thank you for 
being here and for last week's conference. We have got more work to do. 
We need to get all this legislation in place. I know with your 
leadership we have got a good shot at it.
  Mr. Hoyer, welcome.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank you very much, Mr. Garamendi. You do such an 
extraordinary job for California--and have for a long period of time--
but you are doing an extraordinary job here in

[[Page 11468]]

Washington on behalf of America, on behalf of America's workers, on 
behalf of manufacturers, and on behalf of making sure that we make it 
here and sell it here and everywhere. That is what Make It In America 
is about. Nobody, including myself, has been any more tenacious in 
informing people about this agenda, and I thank you for that.

                              {time}  1715

  I want to thank Ann Kuster. Congresswoman Kuster and I had an 
opportunity to visit a really neat manufacturing facility in her 
district not too long ago.
  They were excited about what they were doing, and they were excited, 
as she has pointed out, about making their business more technology 
focused and making it more efficient and more productive and, yes, more 
profitable; but the good news is they were retaining jobs in that 
effort. I thank Congresswoman Kuster.
  I want to thank Don Norcross, who is a new Member of the Congress, 
but not new to supporting Make It In America--he may not have called it 
Make It In America in New Jersey--but Make It In America legislation 
and policies. Don Norcross comes from a background of a working family, 
and he has made them proud and made us proud, and we welcome him to 
this effort.
  I noticed also that Sheila Jackson Lee from Houston is also on the 
floor, who has been a tenacious and very, very faithful spokesperson 
and worker on behalf of Make It In America.
  I am proud to share with my colleagues that House Democrats held a 
hearing, as has been mentioned, this past Thursday to begin exploring 
how to improve, expand, and adapt the Make It In America plan to meet 
the needs and challenges of 2015 and beyond.
  As a matter of fact, one of the things we want to find out is how we 
can better create an environment for new technologies, for new ways of 
doing business, for new ways of making it in America.
  Representative Garamendi was one of 34 Members who participated at 
last week's hearing. For the past 5 years, we have worked together in a 
bipartisan way to enact already 16 Make It In America bills into law.
  These bills included measures to clear the backlog of patent 
applications, reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, and expand 
investments in workforce development, which is what Mr. Garamendi was 
talking about and Ms. Kuster was talking about in terms of training 
people for the new technologies.
  If we are going to compete worldwide in this global marketplace in 
which we now find ourselves, America is going to be the high value end 
of the global marketplace. As a result, we need to make sure that we 
educate and train people to effectively participate and compete and 
succeed in that high-tech environment.
  For the past 5 years, Make It In America has been focused on creating 
the conditions that encourage, as I said, business to innovate, 
manufacture, and create jobs here in the United States of America.
  Now, with the rise of new technologies with the potential of 
transforming our economy, it is now time to update the Make It In 
America plan to address today's challenges and build on past successes.
  That is why, Madam Speaker, the hearing that House Democrats held on 
Thursday was the first in what will be a series of hearings to solicit 
feedback from Members, entrepreneurs, job creators, in other words, 
economists, innovators, and others who have insights to share how we 
can be more successful in creating jobs and competing. These hearings 
are entitled: ``Make It In America: What's Next?''
  Five years have gone by. Circumstances have changed. Challenges have 
changed. Opportunities have changed. We need to be making sure that we 
are in a position to seize those opportunities on behalf of all of our 
people. This is a process of listening, learning, and then implementing 
the best ideas that emerge.
  Thursday's hearings--Mr. Garamendi, you participated in them; you 
were one of the leaders there, which highlighted Members' ideas and 
feedback they have received from speaking and meeting with constituents 
back home--was a great success.
  I want to emphasize that. We take, from time to time, breaks, and we 
call them district work periods, and some people call them vacations.
  Almost every Member on both sides of the aisle use a district work 
period to go among their constituents, go to businesses, go to schools, 
go to construction sites, go to offices, and talk to people about what 
they think.
  That is what our Founding Fathers had in mind: House Members, close 
to the people, listen to the people, bring their views here. That is 
what we did at this hearing.
  We heard about the economic impact of the so-called Internet of 
things, which--in my generation, what language are you speaking, 
Internet of things--which uses wireless technology to connect everyday 
objects, your home, your refrigerator, your air conditioner, your 
television, everyday objects; we are all connected now.
  We also heard about maker faires and fab labs, where students and 
professionals alike can transform tinkering into innovation. I 
sometimes say, Mr. Garamendi, that one of the policies that we ought to 
do is we ought to--a previous President talked about a chicken in every 
pot.
  We ought to give a garage to every graduating high school student. It 
seems everything is generated in a garage in America. Although, as Bill 
Foster pointed out, these fab labs and maker faires were perhaps the 
new garages of our time.
  Representative Garamendi, as I said, was among those who spoke about 
new ways to help traditional manufacturing, when he discussed the role 
our shipbuilding industry plays in helping American businesses move 
natural gas and other goods to market at home and abroad.
  That shipbuilding industry was critically important to us winning in 
World War II. Now, as Mr. Garamendi pointed out, it is a shadow of its 
former self, and we need to rebuild it, and we need to be shipping 
goods on American fleets.
  These were just some of the things that came up in the hearing, and I 
encourage all of my colleagues and all Americans to go online to 
democraticwhip.gov and read Members' testimonies.
  Ms. Kuster's testimony is on that, Mr. Garamendi's, and Mr. Norcross' 
testimony is on the Web; and you can see their perspective, add them 
all together, and we come up with a powerful agenda to create jobs in 
America.
  That is what we are focused on; that is what the people want us 
focused on, and that is what we are going to work on. That is what Make 
It In America is all about.
  I want to express my gratitude, again, to all the Members who 
participated in the first hearing, including, of course, the leader of 
this Special Order, Mr. Garamendi from California, and I thank him for 
yielding.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Hoyer, none of this would be happening were it not 
for your leadership. You brought us together, 34 Members of the 
Democratic Caucus, each with one or more specific pieces of legislation 
to move the Make It In America agenda, so that Americans can have those 
middle class jobs and beyond and above and, in the process, grow the 
American economy. It is the fair way to do it. It is the right way to 
do it; grow the American economy in a fair way so that those middle 
class jobs are there.
  It is the future; it has been the past; it can be the future with the 
legislation, and each one of these ideas--trade, taxes, energy, labor, 
education, research and infrastructure--the 34 Members of your caucus 
brought forth legislation in each and every one of those areas.
  Mr. HOYER. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.
  Mr. HOYER. The last item on there is infrastructure. When you build 
infrastructure in America, you don't create jobs any place other than 
America.

[[Page 11469]]

  We are hopefully going to have a highway bill; and we need a 
permanent highway bill, a long-term, 6-year minimum highway bill, so 
that we lend confidence to the marketplace that the infrastructure is 
going to be in place because, if we are going to Make It In America, a 
good, solid competitive infrastructure is absolutely essential.
  I thank the gentleman for that list. I thank him for his work. I 
thank him for the--I will say a few things while the gentleman is 
restoring Make It In America to its rightful place.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I am going to move this thing along. I see several of 
our other colleagues have joined us here.
  Sheila Jackson Lee, you said you had a brief presentation. Please 
take the floor, then Mr. Norcross, and then we will--Marcy Kaptur is 
here from Ohio. Here we go.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me add my appreciation as well to be one of 
those Members who joined Mr. Hoyer 5 years ago to emphasize that Make 
It In America is a double win. Make It In America, and we will make it 
in America, and that is what this message has been. I want to thank my 
good friend from California for leading this effort.
  I just want to read what many of our constituents appreciate as being 
part of this Make It In America. The fair trade concept, taxes, energy, 
labor, education, research, and infrastructure, all of these are part, 
if they work fairly for the working man and woman.
  I highlighted The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, 2014 marked 
the best year for job growth in 15 years, with employers adding 2.95 
million jobs, and the unemployment rate falling to a postrecession low 
of 5.6 percent.
  For the first time since the recession ended, payrolls are expected 
to grow. In all of America's cities and throughout the U.S., they are 
expected to add another 2.6 million jobs.
  Houston is ranked as a top city for STEM occupations, jobs requiring 
a degree in science, technology, engineering, and math. Of course, we 
are engaged in the energy sector, and for that, we need employees.
  All of my colleagues who believe in Make It In America collectively 
have put in place nearly 100 additional bills that have been introduced 
to focus on Make It In America. As well, all of us have focused on this 
concept of skills training.
  I introduced H.R. 73, the America RISING Act of 2015, which stands 
for Realizing the Informational Skills and Initiative of New Graduates, 
establishing a grant program for stipends to assist in the cost of 
compensation paid by employers to certain recent college graduates and 
provide funding for their further education in subjects relating to 
mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.
  What I want to say this evening is that this is a movement that 
should continue. I am very delighted that America recognizes that 
manufacturing is an economic engine.
  I want to make mention of the Houston Community College, that I have 
had a meeting with over the last week, to particularly focus on a new 
facility that we hope will be finalized that will have automotive 
technology at the highest level and manufacturing as part of its 
training.
  This is to help not only recent graduates or individuals in what we 
call early college, but it is to help adults to be retrained for 
important elements that will manufacture, something I want to see 
increased in Houston, and as well will have us at the highest levels of 
technology.
  It is no longer the auto mechanic; it is the automotive engineer, the 
person who knows how to deal with sophisticated electric cars, solar-
driven cars, and others that make a difference in our lives.
  I want to thank the gentleman for having this very special Special 
Order, as he has done over the years and months, and to say that we are 
committed to passing legislation, building infrastructure, increasing 
our education and research, and particularly providing a new generation 
an opportunity for creating jobs and putting America, as it has been in 
the past, at the top in production; manufacturing; research; and, 
certainly, technology.
  I thank the gentleman.
  Thank you Congressman Garamendi for anchoring this Special Order and 
yielding me time to share with our colleagues legislation I have 
introduced that comports with the principles underlying our Make It In 
America agenda.
  Our Make it in America plan sets forth four central guiding posts: 1. 
We must adopt and pursue a well-developed national manufacturing 
strategy that begins right here in America. 2. We must promote the 
export of our manufacturing goods so that businesses can compete 
domestically and internationally. 3. We must also encourage businesses 
abroad to bring jobs and innovation back to the United States. 4. 
Lastly, and most importantly, we must train and educate a workforce 
that will secure the sustainability of this plan.
  As we continue this critical work of identifying and advancing 
effective policy change for our communities and collectively throughout 
the nation, it is important that we acknowledge the great progress we 
have made.
  I supported the 16 Make It In America bills that have been signed 
into law by our President.
  Additionally, as highlighted by the Wall Street Journal earlier this 
year, 2014 marked the best year for job growth in 15 years, with 
employers adding 2.95 million jobs and the unemployment rate falling to 
a post-recession low of 5.6%.
  For the first time since the recession ended, payrolls are expected 
to grow in all of America's cities and employers throughout the U.S. 
are expected to add another 2.65 million jobs this year.
  Houston is ranked as a top city for STEM occupations, jobs requiring 
a degree in science, technology, engineering and math related subjects.
  Known as the ``Energy Capital of the World'', Houston has core 
strengths in the energy sector, import/export trade activity, medical 
advancements and a diverse population that supports innovative growth.
  However, Houston and other cities across the nation remain at risk of 
stalemating any progress we have made or are projected to make if we do 
continue to open up our job market and expand opportunities in all 
cities across the nation.
  As we look to the pillars and priorities of our plan, which aims to 
ensure that these jobs are permanent and sustainable throughout all 
sectors and populations of America, it is important to keep sight of 
the nearly 100 additional bills my colleagues and I have introduced 
calling for strategic action and fair enhancement of our economy as we 
continue to experience this growth.
  American businesses can only remain competitive when they have the 
trained and educated workers they need.
  This is why I have introduced legislation that will help strengthen 
our education and skills-training programs to make sure our workers are 
getting the preparation and certifications they need while also 
providing an opportunity to find and retain work once trained with 
those high-demand skills.
  H.R. 73, the ``America RISING Act of 2015'' which stands for 
Realizing the Informational Skills and Initiative of New Graduates, 
establishes a grant program for stipends to assist in the cost of 
compensation paid by employers to certain recent college graduates and 
provides funding for their further education in subjects relating to 
mathematics, science, engineering, and technology.


 ABOUT H.R. 73, THE ``AMERICA RISING ACT OF 2015'' AND THE PROBLEM IT 
                               ADDRESSES

  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2012 the national 
unemployment rate for persons with a bachelor's degree was 4.5% and 
6.2% for those persons with associate's degrees among college graduates 
aged 25 years and older. For college graduates aged 18-25 these 
percentages were higher at 7.7%.
  Because the typical college graduate leaves college owing an average 
of $29,400, in student loan debt, a rate that has increased 6% every 
year since 2008, the current job market offers exceedingly few 
opportunities for them to obtain employment at a salary adequate to 
service their college loan debt.
  There are more than 26 million small businesses in the United States, 
of these more than 4 million are owned and operated by members of 
economically and socially disadvantaged groups.
  In the current economic climate, small businesses are experiencing 
difficulty in finding the resources needed to increase sales, modernize 
operations, and hire new employees.
  Recent college graduates need the experience that can be obtained 
only in the workplace to refine their skills and lay the groundwork for 
productive careers.

[[Page 11470]]

  Small and disadvantaged businesses need the technologically based 
problem-solving skills possessed by recent college graduates, 
particularly those with training in the areas of science, technology, 
engineering, and mathematics.
  Enabling recent graduates to obtain employment with small business 
and companies operating in economically distressed areas benefits the 
national economy by granting graduates deferred payments on their 
student loans with frozen interest rates while they gain essential 
business management experience that they can put into practice 
throughout their careers, while at the same time providing businesses 
the human capital and technical expertise needed to compete and win in 
the global economy of the 21st century.
  The key elements of the program would be that the federal government 
would provide relief to a corps of recent college graduates in order 
for them to be deployed to assist struggling small and minority 
businesses in located in disadvantaged or economically depressed areas.
  These are the types of business that are most in need of the 
technical and knowledge based skills possessed by recent college 
graduates but least able to afford them.
  The benefit to participants is three-fold: 1. The federal government 
would provide relief from the piling interest rates of graduates' 
student loans by instating a freeze on their payments for two years 
while graduates who have not obtained a STEM degree are able to pursue 
a second training course or certification program in the STEM fields 
with eligibility for federal financial assistance. 2. Those graduates, 
who would have completed a degree in the STEM fields within the past 24 
months, will be eligible to receive deferment of the cost of previous 
school balances by obtaining two years of additional education in the 
STEM fields as well as federal financial aid to complete the training. 
3. The program participants will gain valuable experience applying the 
knowledge learned in college to the workplace after graduation or 
during their re-training.
  In the long run the best way to guarantee America's future economic 
prosperity is to develop and grow an entrepreneurial class of Americans 
that is broadly represented among all demographic groups.
  It is not enough to provide jobs that can be performed by the 
millions of low-skilled workers who need employment now.
  In a global economy, any such job provided cannot be protected over 
the long haul and cannot be made lucrative enough to sustain a middle 
class standard of living.
  Therefore, it is critical that there exist job training and 
retraining programs to enable workers to upgrade existing skills and to 
learn new ones.
  I invite all my colleagues to join me in co-sponsoring H.R. 73, the 
``America RISING Act of 2015,'' which will help create the next 
generation of entrepreneurs and businesses that will provide good-
paying middle-class jobs for America.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you very much, Ms. Jackson Lee. I really 
appreciate it.
  As we talk about each of these things, you are talking labor and 
education and the way they come together and, in doing so, increasing 
the productivity and the ability of an American worker to get a job in 
the new manufacturing world in which we are living.
  These things do come together, all of these pieces of the puzzle, 34 
Members of the Caucus, over 100 pieces of legislation in all of these 
areas.
  Joining us, Mr. Norcross, thank you very much for joining us today. 
You were, I think, introduced very nicely by the minority whip. 
Welcome.
  I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Norcross).
  Mr. NORCROSS. Thank you. Certainly, we appreciate what you are doing 
here today, and that is highlighting what is going on in America. In 
south Jersey, where I am from, born and raised, a half century ago, we 
knew what it was like to Make It In America.
  I live in the Victor building, where the Victrolas used to be made. 
We are not making Victrolas anymore. The Victrola turned into RCA and 
then went on from there. My father's first job was in the building I 
now live, which means they are not manufacturing Victrolas there 
anymore.
  During the heyday, we built ships at New York shipyard. In fact, New 
York shipyard was where the very first nuclear-powered merchant ship 
was made.
  Campbell Soup, who is still in our city, made soups, which now are 
known around the world.

                              {time}  1730

  But we look back over the last half century and see how things have 
changed. Many of those jobs have moved out because of bad trade deals. 
I had many, many empty warehouses and manufacturing plants where once 
thousands of people worked.
  But we are on the rise again. And I just want to highlight a couple 
of items that are going to help us make it in America again.
  We have a startup company by Dr. Singh, who was educated at the 
University of Pennsylvania, and he is now going to make SMR, small 
modular reactors, unconditionally safe, clean, carbon-free.
  He was looking for a place to make them. And he literally could have 
gone anywhere in the world, where many of his products currently go. He 
is coming to Camden, New Jersey, here in America.
  Why? Because of the educational system. Because those men and women 
that are going to be trained there are here in America and understand 
that.
  Because we know in education not one size fits all. Most parents--and 
you hear it day in and day out, that they want to send their children 
to college. Well, the fact of the matter is not everybody wants or 
needs to go to college.
  We have those who are serving in the military, those in our trade 
programs. And we take a look at those trade programs, they are the 
backbone of what is going to be happening in the next generation of 
making it in America.
  Because Dr. Singh is going to start out with 400 new employees and go 
to 1,000 after a few years, creating these new SMRs, which is high 
tech, but very labor intensive, whether it is arc welding, 
electricians, carpenters.
  And they all have to have an education. Not all of them have to go to 
college. Those who are going to engineer this obviously do.
  But working with your hands is a noble trade. I like to tell people, 
as I started out as an electrician, that I am still an electrician. I 
just wear a tie.
  But that adult learning and having a flexible way to learn, whether--
we heard a few moments ago about the community college system, which I 
firmly believe is the most affordable quality education that somebody 
leaving high school can go to.
  You know, not everybody understands when they get out of high school 
where they want to go. But having that educational system, whether it 
is through the community college or through an apprenticeship program, 
is the way you can make it in America.
  Now, when we take a look back over the last 50 years, we have had our 
ups and downs in America, but we always know the best social program is 
a job.
  When you have a job, many of those other issues that you are facing 
when you are unemployed tend to go away. And when you have that job, 
you can make it in America.
  I would like to thank my colleague from California for having us down 
here today and talking about this very important issue. Making it in 
America is about having a job. And when we stay focused on that here in 
Congress, America will win.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I thank you very much, Mr. Norcross. I knew that you 
had come out of a family that was in the building trades. You are an 
electrician, and you are also a Member of Congress.
  So you are bringing something very valuable, and that is hands-on 
experience in the working world, where the middle class has seen their 
part of the American economy stall out, not able to climb ahead.
  But over the last 20 years, we have seen this American middle class 
basically just barely able to hold its ground. And one of the reasons 
is the enormous decline in the manufacturing industry in this Nation 
and, also, that this Nation has not been keeping up with the needs of 
infrastructure.
  So as we look at the Make It In America agenda, yes, education is 
absolutely important so that the workers of today and tomorrow are 
prepared for the kind of jobs that are out there.
  Electricians--I am sure you can speak to this--when you started in 
the

[[Page 11471]]

business, it was one kind of skill set and, as you proceeded, you have 
found a need for additional.
  Would you like to talk about how that works and the way it might 
integrate with the small modular reactors?
  Mr. NORCROSS. Certainly. And I appreciate you yielding.
  When we look at the educational system, apprenticeship programs have 
been around since the beginning of time, whether it was the shoemaker 
or the carpenter.
  When I started out, it was a 4-year apprenticeship program. Today it 
is up to 5 years plus, depending on what specialty area you would like 
to focus on.
  But those are the jobs that, when you are working, you are going to 
school, you are paying your taxes. When you are not working, you are 
not paying your taxes, and the system is a drag. You can't find a 
better life.
  So when I say the best social program is a job, it is good for 
America. It pays the taxes. That means you are going to afford to send 
your kids to college if they want to go to college.
  I have three children. Two of them wanted to go to college. One 
wanted to become an electrician. They each value what they do so much, 
and they are proud of what they do.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Perhaps it was your testimony at the hearing that the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) put together, and they were talking 
about job training programs.
  And I believe one witness, maybe you, said that the largest technical 
training program in the Nation are the apprenticeship programs that the 
unions run.
  So the electricians union, IEBW, their apprenticeship program, the 
plumbers union and steelworkers and so forth each have an 
apprenticeship training program. And, when taken together, it is the 
single largest job training program in the Nation.
  You said you spent some time at that?
  Mr. NORCROSS. Well, it is interesting you are bringing that up. There 
are 15 different craft unions. And the fact of the matter is sometimes 
we can't see the forest for the trees.
  They are the largest training--$1.9 billion a year, privately funded, 
not through any government funds--through the apprenticeship training 
program of those 15 different craft unions.
  It is so important because it is in place. That means that, when they 
are working, they are putting that next generation of people to work.
  We need people to be in the STEMs, the engineers. But these 
apprenticeship programs, over 900 sites around the country, are 
training carpenters, plumbers, cement masons, laborers each and every 
day, and they have been doing it.
  The way we can help them make it in America is to start the 
infrastructure up so that they can start that next generation of folks 
because an apprenticeship program only works when the journeyman is 
teaching the apprentice.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. In terms of public policy, we have passed a new piece 
of legislation, the Education and Workforce Innovation Act, last year.
  And it seems to me that that piece of legislation, which provides 
Federal assistance for various kinds of workforce preparation, 
education, and other activities, to the extent that that can be brought 
into and connected with the apprenticeship programs that those labor 
unions that you just described are running out there, we might see even 
a more robust program within these. And these are employer and union, 
both of them participating in the apprenticeship programs.
  Mr. NORCROSS. It is interesting you brought that up.
  Today I spoke in front of the Building & Construction Trades Council. 
They have a program called Helmets to Hardhats, which is taking those 
veterans who are returning home and looking for an opportunity.
  And those opportunities aren't always there, but those building 
trades in New Jersey alone over the last 4 years have taken 500 
veterans into their apprenticeship programs.
  So it is taking an existing program, giving not a handout, but just 
an opportunity to those vets. And they are some of the best apprentices 
that we have ever had, and it works extremely well.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. We had a job fair out in California 2 weeks ago, and I 
was talking to some of the folks that were looking for a job.
  Many of them had gone to the community college, taken a 
preapprenticeship training program so that they would be prepared and 
have the necessary education to go into the apprenticeship program.
  That is a very, very important part of the Make It In America agenda: 
education coupled with labor. It is a very, very powerful piece of 
this.
  Thank you so very much for participating today.
  Closing comment?
  Mr. NORCROSS. You bring up a good point.
  The one issue, the preapprentice program is giving an opportunity to 
those who might not normally look into it: Women, minorities, and those 
who haven't been exposed to the trades. And I think that is a great 
point.
  Do you want to be out there when it is in the middle of the summer? 
Do you want to be out there in the cold? So the preapprentice program 
exposes them to all the different crafts to see if this is what they 
want to do. It is a great opportunity to make it in America.
  I thank you for the time.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Well, I am going to pass this discussion on to a lady 
who knows a lot of manufacturing.
  I now yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of Ohio (Ms. 
Kaptur), the heart of the manufacturing center in the United States.
  Thank you so very much for joining us this afternoon.
  Ms. KAPTUR. I want to thank you, Congressman Garamendi, for your 
continuing leadership on jobs in America and Make It In America.
  It is a pleasure to join also with Congressmen Norcross and Sherman, 
who are here tonight after hours as we attempt to bring the cause of 
the American people here to our Nation's Capitol.
  I want to thank you for the logo of ``Make It In America.'' We in the 
Midwest would also say ``make it and grow it in America'' because 
agriculture is a major underpinning of Ohio as well, and I know it is 
of California.
  I want to begin my remarks tonight by saying that the American 
economy, in a way, is upside down. We have seen two-thirds of the 
manufacturing jobs in America eliminated over the last three decades, 
and it isn't just because of technology.
  It is because those jobs have been outsourced to third-world 
environments, where people work for penny wage jobs, and their 
livelihoods don't really increase. They aren't bettering themselves. 
They are basically not starving. They certainly don't live a middle 
class way of life.
  But two-thirds of the manufacturing jobs, gone in America. And at the 
same time, we see the financial sector growing in power. Six banks 
headquartered on Wall Street mainly controlling the investment that 
occurs that allows the outsourcing, the very same characters that 
brought this economy down and hurt the world through the development of 
derivatives.
  It has been interesting to read about the Greek financial crisis and 
to see that Goldman Sachs is right in there again, creating a 
derivative instrument that can't hold water. So the inner tube is just 
leaking all over the place.
  It is important for the American people to see that manufacturing 
jobs have gone down. We have lost two-thirds of them. And the financial 
sector, meanwhile, has gained power, the very same characters that are 
outsourcing these jobs.
  Because who has the money to invest in third-world environments? It 
sure isn't the community banks that I represent.
  Let me point out that, over the last 30 years, we haven't had a 
single year where the United States was able to send more out--export 
goods--than import from other places.
  So we have been upside down as an economy now for going on 30 years. 
And from my region, that means the average family has had their income 
go down, their net effective buying power, $7,000 as the middle class 
hemorrhages.

[[Page 11472]]

  Let's look at the numbers. We have had over $10 trillion of trade 
deficit since the mid-1970s, when the first free trade agreement was 
signed. That $10 trillion probably translates into a loss of over 40 
million jobs over that period of time.
  We are growing now sluggishly, sluggishly, because the ``make it'' 
and ``grow it'' parts of America have been very, very trimmed back.
  If you lose two-thirds of your manufacturing jobs, you have growing 
poverty and you have sinking wages and sinking buying power across our 
country.
  Now, there is a book. I recommend it to everybody. ``American 
Theocracy'' by Kevin Phillips. In chapter 8, he talks about the 
financialization of the U.S. economy: loss of manufacturing jobs, 
increase of jobs in the financial sector, high rewards for the people 
that sit at the top, but for everybody else, sinking wages and a 
shrinking middle class.
  The derivative instruments that hurt our country and the 
collateralized debt obligations that threw us into a spin back in 2008, 
those weren't invented by people in Toledo, and I doubt they were 
invented by people in Cleveland or central California. They were 
invented by money-changers.
  And they had figured out how to trade away American jobs, make huge, 
huge profits for their shareholders at the expense of the rest of the 
American people, the 99 percent.
  On agriculture, I want to say that what has happened over the same 
period of time--because we have a vast underpinning of agriculture in 
this country. But even with it, 15 percent of our food is now imported. 
It used to be about 3 percent.
  Start looking at the shelves and you are going: Oh, what did we trade 
away for that or that or that? And certainly, in pharmaceuticals, we 
have traded away most of those jobs someplace else.
  And isn't it interesting that the cost of pharmaceuticals hasn't gone 
down, as we have just seen an avalanche of drugs coming in here, 
whether they be generic or brand-name.
  There are people who are financing this outsourcing, and they are 
sitting fat and happy in the major financial center of our country.
  I can go through my region. I can look at companies like Dixon 
Ticonderoga. It didn't close its doors in Sandusky, Ohio, because it 
couldn't make its crayons and school supplies anymore. It was moved to 
Mexico, where it sits near Mexico City. It moved from Sandusky, Ohio, 
down there.
  Delphi moved from the same general area, Port Clinton, Ohio. Ford 
Focus just last week announced 4,000 jobs out of suburban Detroit down 
to Mexico. Champion Spark Plug in Toledo, closed. Acklin Stamping in 
Toledo, closed. Dura, Dana, Chase Bag, Textile Leather, the list goes 
on and on. Ford's Maumee Stamping, there couldn't be a better Ford 
stamping plant in America than the one in Maumee--doors shut, jobs 
gone.
  Two-thirds. That is just one part of America. Two-thirds of the 
manufacturing jobs of this country, lost.
  Our economy is lopsided. It is benefiting a few. We are seeding the 
field, and that is why the American people feel the pinch.
  I just wanted to make one other important point where the gentleman 
references research and innovation. There will be a patent bill coming 
up here very soon which I hope people will vote against because it will 
further dampen the ability of individual inventors and those working in 
our universities inventing the new products of the future and will 
reward only the big companies.
  And I say to my colleagues, if you haven't decided how to vote on 
H.R. 9, I hope you will vote ``no'' on what is being called the 
Innovation Act because what it is, it is a transfer of more power to 
the biggest global corporations to say to their patents: Full steam 
ahead.
  But if you are an individual out there in America or you are a person 
who doesn't have a whole legal team of lawyers who are being paid at 
your behest, you don't have a chance. You won't have a chance with H.R. 
9.
  We have a bill, H.R. 2045, that I hope people will look at as an 
alternative. It is supported by all of the research universities, small 
inventors across our country, who can't afford any longer to put their 
invention out there because they don't have the legal or financial 
capacity to defend it.
  There is something really insidious about what is going on with our 
patent system and will make it so much harder.
  And I give as proof, I read in our local newspaper the other day--
they listed all the patents that had been approved this year over the 
first half of the year from my part of the country. There wasn't a 
single individual patent approved. Every single patent that was 
approved belonged to a company that had already been successful.
  There wasn't even a university patent approved. I thought: Oh, my 
goodness. This is really not going to support innovation. This only 
supports the very same big-pocketed folks who already hold all the 
power in this society and have far too much sway in this Congress.
  So I thank the gentleman for allowing me to add my two cents to the 
discussion this evening and to say the American people deserve a better 
deal than this.
  I hope that Members will look at our Glass-Steagall Act as well. That 
is my bill, Elizabeth Warren's bill over in the other body, to break up 
the big banks and to have more democratic activity among the financial 
institutions of this country and not just lodging over two-thirds of 
the power in the big six.
  It is really warping our society, and it is making it much less 
representative. It is harming manufacturing. It is harming agriculture. 
It is harming innovation.
  Thank you, Congressman Garamendi, for the phenomenal work that you do 
in allowing all of us whose districts have been so impacted to add to 
the American fabric and represent all of America, not just the 
wealthiest part of it.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Ms. Kaptur, thank you so very much for bringing us the 
message from America's heartland. And, by the way, agriculture is also 
a manufacturing industry. The farmer grows, but then the food 
processors are manufacturing that and bringing added value and a major 
part.
  You are quite correct about the escape of capital, using tax policy 
and trade policy to encourage American companies to take their capital 
and build overseas, leaving American workers behind.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GARAMENDI. I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio.
  Ms. KAPTUR. I just want to place on the record that our Glass-
Steagall bill to essentially break up the big banks and take the 
investment side of the operation away from the prudent banking portion 
of it is H.R. 381.
  We have over 60 cosponsors of our bill here in the House, and I am 
hoping, as the American people hear our message tonight, they will 
encourage their Members of Congress to sponsor our Glass-Steagall 
Restoration Act, H.R. 381.

                              {time}  1745

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Ms. Kaptur, thank you so very, very much. You talked 
about things that are extremely important along the way: the trade 
policy, our tax policy, the escape of American capital, leaving 
American workers behind, economic theory, and capital and labor 
resources. If one of those leaves--in this case, capital--then the 
American worker is left behind.
  Mr. Speaker, the Make It In America agenda is all about rebuilding 
the foundation of America's economic growth. We can do that in several 
ways. I am going to wrap up with a very quick rendition of several 
policy opportunities that present themselves to us.
  First of all, at the bottom of that list--not because it is at the 
bottom, but because it is just there--is the issue of infrastructure. 
We are faced with a huge challenge, one that, unfortunately, I am 
afraid the Congress will,

[[Page 11473]]

once again, duck the challenge of creating a robust program to 
revitalize the American infrastructure.
  Infrastructure is the foundation. It is the sanitation, the water 
systems; it is the roads, the airports; it is the rivers, the ports, 
and transportation system.
  The President has introduced, in the last Congress, the GROW AMERICA 
Act. We now call it the GROW AMERICA Act 2. Unfortunately, this week, 
tomorrow, our majority, our Republican colleagues, are failing to 
address this issue.
  Instead, they are going back to a childhood game called kick the 
can--in this case, kick the can down the road for another 6 months 
instead of putting in place a long-term, 5- or 6-year transportation 
program that can accomplish all of these things--the rail, the buses, 
the ports, the bridges, the highways, the sanitation systems, and the 
communications systems. The leadership in the House on the Republican 
side is simply missing the fundamental necessity of infrastructure.
  By the way, Mr. Speaker, this goes back to the Founding Fathers. 
George Washington asked Alexander Hamilton to develop an economic plan. 
He came back with one called manufacturers; in that was an 
infrastructure. Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the 
Treasury, said that we must build the roads--postal roads at that 
time--we must build the canals, and we must build the ports if we are 
going to have a strong economy. The infrastructure is critically 
important to the Make It In America agenda.
  Another one, Mr. Speaker, is using our tax dollars to build the 
American economy to make it in America. This is a story of two bridges. 
Very, very quickly, one bridge on the West Coast, this is called the 
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a multibillion dollar project, the 
other one on the East Coast, and this is on the Hudson River in New 
York City, the Tappan Zee Bridge.
  The San Francisco Bay Bridge, in a fit of what I call stupidity, the 
State of California decided that they would seek Chinese steel because 
it was supposed to be 10 percent cheaper to build the bridge. Well, the 
result was 6,000 jobs were in China, a brand-new steel mill, the most 
high-tech steel mill in the world--and, for America, taken to the 
cleaners.
  It was a significant overrun of multimillions of dollars, a delay of 
years and years, steel that was shoddy, welds that were shoddy, and a 
lesson for America: spend our tax money on American-made equipment and 
supplies. Buy American steel. Those 6,000 jobs could have been in 
America. That steel mill could have been in America, and the shoddy 
work would not have occurred.
  New York decided to buy American steel. So what happens--on time and 
under budget and 7,728 American jobs were created. It is the story of 
two coasts: California, stupid policy; New York, wise policy. Spend the 
American taxpayer dollars on American-made goods and equipment.
  One final thing, Mr. Speaker, and then I am going to return this over 
to the speaker. I don't know if you can see that, but that is a 
liquefied natural gas tanker. America later this year will begin to 
export natural gas in the form of LNG, liquefied natural gas. This is a 
big deal and a big potential for the gas industry.
  They are going to make a lot of money because the cost of natural gas 
around the world is maybe twice to three times what the price would be 
in the United States, so the gas companies are all for shipping gas 
overseas. We need to be careful about this because, if we ship too much 
overseas, then we are going to raise the price.
  The Cheniere facility in the Gulf Coast will take 100 tankers, and I 
have legislation that says, if we are going to ship a strategic 
national asset overseas, then we ought to take care of the rest of the 
national security.
  Shipbuilding is absolutely essential. American mariners, captains, 
and seamen and -women are absolutely essential for the American defense 
and security. Make it in America, ship it on American-built tankers--we 
are talking about tens of thousands, indeed, over 100,000 jobs and a 
supply chain for jobs all across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I have got just a few minutes, and I notice that my 
colleague from New York is here. The East-West show is back in force.
  Mr. Tonko, thank you for coming in so quietly. I didn't see you on my 
left side. Please join us, and let's talk about Make It In America.
  Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Representative Garamendi. It is always a 
pleasure to join you on the House floor to speak to any issue, but in 
this case, to Make It In America.
  I am certain through the hour you have talked about the capital and 
physical infrastructure demands, but we also have to highlight the 
human infrastructure portion of the equation that will resound in the 
greatest success for the Make It In America agenda, and that is 
training the skilled talent that we need.
  We need to promote the development and the advancement of 
manufacturing--advanced manufacturing, as it has been coined of late--
but also to understand that it is an innovation economy, and so that 
means dealing with issues in production with great precision.
  That great precision requires extremely gifted skill sets and 
education, apprentice programs in higher ed, making certain we have a 
growing force of engineers, where we are woefully underproducing the 
amount of engineers we require.
  There are bits of legislation that all of us have cosponsored, that 
perhaps we are leading as sponsor, that will encourage the development 
engineers that we require for our being able to be a great 
manufacturing nation as we move forward.
  Those are important elements, making certain that we have the 
precision instrumentation that will enable us to, again, compete 
because it is not the cheapest investment, but the wisest investment 
that is made.
  It is not going to be significant by the dollar only, but what is the 
best product, what is the most thoughtful product that is developed for 
whatever needs society may have. The engineering components of all of 
this is very important, and the skill set component is very important.
  As we go forward, we want to make certain that that human 
infrastructure is geared up and ready to go with cutting-edge skill 
sets that speak to today's economy. That is very important.
  Mr. Speaker, we have always prided ourselves on a strong workforce, a 
well-trained, well-educated, and well-equipped force that goes out 
there and enables us to compete and compete effectively in a global 
race on innovation. That has grown significant over the last decade.
  We see more and more investment coming in, that human infrastructure 
from nations around the world that will then be competing with this 
Nation to be able to export its goods, so a full complement of programs 
that are essential in policy format and resource advocacy and investing 
in that Make It In America agenda, investment here where there are 
rightful anticipations of lucrative returns on the taxpayer dollars 
that are invested.
  I thank you for the laser sharp focus you put on to Make It In 
America as an agenda and the underscoring of importance that you have 
drawn to manufacturing as a sector. It was walked away from by previous 
administrations.
  This administration, the Obama administration, has talked about sound 
investment in advance manufacturing will enable us to stop bleeding the 
loss of manufacturing jobs where we are losing, at one point, one out 
of four.

                              {time}  1800

  We are still perched pretty high in terms of manufacturing jobs, but 
we have to stop that bleeding, and the way we do it is by turning it 
around with policy and resource advocacy. And I thank you again for 
your leadership in this regard.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Tonko, thank you. I know that your previous work 
before you came to Congress several years ago was in the State of New 
York working on the innovation economy. You certainly have ramped up 
innovation economy in the State of New York, and now you are bringing 
that experience here with legislation.

[[Page 11474]]

  The Make It In America agenda, I am going to put it back up very, 
very quickly here because you talked about this. The Make It in America 
agenda is about the middle class; it is about rebuilding the middle 
class.
  Thirty-four members of the Democratic Caucus talked last week about 
their legislation dealing with trade and taxes, energy, labor, 
education, research, and infrastructure, about how that constellation 
of issues comes together to boost the American middle class, to give 
every American an opportunity for that middle class job. So it is 
there.
  I see we are about to be out of time, or maybe we are already out of 
time, so I am going to say I want to thank my colleagues and Mr. Hoyer 
for leading us in this.
  Mr. Tonko, you have got 30 seconds to close.
  Mr. TONKO. Well, I just say, let's move forward with investment. It 
happens when we have a laser sharp focus on just where to apply our 
resources to capital, physical, and human infrastructure, so as to be 
the strongest competitor out there in a global race for kingpin of the 
innovation economy, and whoever wins that race, becomes the go-to agent 
for the worldwide economy. So we can't afford to hesitate or fail in 
our attempt here.
  Thank you, again, for leading us.
  Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you, Mr. Tonko.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________