Council on Competitiveness President & CEO Deborah L. Wince-Smith Testifies Before Congress on the Need for a National Manufacturing Strategy

Manufacturing is part and product of America’s innovation capacity, and a driving force leading technological transformation in the United States and around the world. Today's pictures of manufacturing reflect a smart, safe, sustainable, and surging sector and have cast aside old images of dumb, dirty, dangerous and disappearing work.
 
U.S. lawmakers must help create the conditions for a thriving manufacturing sector. This is an imperative given the perils presented each day by global competition: the rise of state-supported capitalism, predatory trade policies and targeted intellectual property theft. We are compelled to enact tax and regulatory reform, make strategic investments in infrastructure and enhance our workforce readiness. Supporting America’s manufacturing future does not mean an industrial policy of choosing winners and losers, subsidizing decaying industries, or adopting protectionist policies that inhibit fair global competition and trade.
 
Council on Competitiveness President & CEO Deborah L. Wince-Smith delivered this message today to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. "The Council applauds the increased public and political focus on U.S. Manufacturing, and we are pleased that The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2012 is making its way through the House. This bill is a critical step Congress can take to keep American manufacturing competitive. It lays the groundwork for creating a national manufacturing strategy, and for developing robust, non-partisan, public-private partnerships that will encourage the continued growth of U.S. manufacturing. The Council looks forward to working with bill co-sponsors Rep. Dan Lipinski (D) of Illinois and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) of Illinois to secure America’s manufacturing future."
 
The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2012 reflects important elements of the Council’s recent MAKE: An American Manufacturing Movement report, which calls on “Congress to implement a National Manufacturing Strategy and unleash America’s manufacturing potential.”