WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has approved a bipartisan bill this week, introduced by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) to streamline federal efforts to boost domestic manufacturers and support workers. The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, which Peters introduced with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), would assess the U.S. Department of Commerce’s efforts to support manufacturers and suggest solutions to improve the Department’s manufacturing programs to better serve manufacturers – many of which are small businesses.
This bill, which now heads to the full Senate for consideration, builds on Peters’ efforts to coalesce U.S. manufacturing policy by establishing a National Institute of Manufacturing that would serve as a hub for federal manufacturing programs – and comes as the U.S. works to mitigate global supply chain issues caused by the pandemic that have hurt workers and disrupted industries nationwide.
“As Michiganders, we know firsthand that you can’t be a great country if you don’t make things. It’s long past time we strengthen our federal manufacturing strategy to support businesses, create good-paying jobs, and secure our economic competitiveness on the world stage,” said Senator Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “For too long, our nation has lacked a coherent, national manufacturing strategy – which allows foreign competitors like the Chinese government to outcompete us. Additionally, federal support for manufacturers is often fractured, uncoordinated, and difficult to navigate. We must have a more unified approach to federal manufacturing policy to ensure we remain a global manufacturing leader for generations. I’m pleased my bipartisan bill to achieve these goals advanced in the Senate, and I’ll continue working to ensure it’s passed into law.”
“The global supply chain crisis resulting from our dependence on Communist China underscored the importance of strengthening American manufacturing,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act will streamline programs run by the Department of Commerce to eliminate government waste and improve efficiency. This legislation will benefit the manufacturing community-based in Tennessee and across the U.S.”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in 2017 identifying 58 programs across 11 different federal agencies that serve U.S. manufacturing, several of which are housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The vast number of programs may complicate their administration and presents a barrier to manufacturers knowing about and accessing valuable resources. The Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act would address these issues by identifying ways to improve the Commerce Department’s management of these programs.
Peters has made strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chains a top priority. He introduced legislation in 2019 to establish the National Institute of Manufacturing to connect manufacturers to critical resources and function as the focal point for developing a national strategy, ensuring American manufacturing policy can rapidly respond to changes in the global marketplace. Peters, who serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Maritime, Freights, and Ports, led a hearing that examined ocean shipping supply chain challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and how these supply chain disruptions have caused businesses and consumers to experience major delays and price increases. Peters also championed a provision included in the bipartisan infrastructure law to strengthen Buy American requirements and close loopholes to ensure that the federal government is spending taxpayer dollars on American-made products that support U.S. companies and workers, and create American jobs. In September, Peters’ bipartisan legislation to revamp the Manufacturing.gov website to serve as a one-stop hub to connect manufacturers with federal manufacturing programs and resources passed the U.S. Senate.
As part of the government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2022, which was recently signed into law, Peters secured $158 million to strengthen the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which provides technical assistance to boost small- and medium-sized manufacturers’ ability to compete. In the competitiveness bill advancing through Congress, Peters included his bipartisan legislation to revive and elevate the National Manufacturing Advisory Council. The Council advises the federal government on manufacturing programs and provides private-sector guidance and insight to the federal government, but it has only met intermittently in recent years. Peters’ legislation would revive and elevate the Council, establishing it as a critical component in federal manufacturing policy and strategy.
Peters also secured multiple provisions in the competitiveness package to address the ongoing semiconductor shortage, including to create a $2 billion supplemental incentive fund to support the domestic production of mature semiconductor technologies in the coming years and ensure that semiconductor projects that support critical manufacturing industries are given priority status, which would include the automotive sector. This is in addition to $50 billion already in the bill to incentivize the production of semiconductors of all kinds in the U.S.-for a total of $52 billion. In November, Peters hosted a roundtable in Taylor, Michigan with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to discuss ways to improve domestic manufacturing and strengthen U.S. supply chain resilience.
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