Making It in America

Floor Speech

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But the truth is we are used to making things in the Midwest, whether you are talking about from Pittsburgh to Detroit, to Cleveland, to Milwaukee, to Minneapolis, we make stuff in the Midwest as you do in the West in California, and as they do in the East in Congressman Tonko's district, Congressman from upstate New York. The fact is that manufacturing and making things is an American value.

But, Congressman, the thing I want to say is that this campaign of Making it in America, before we make anything, we have to believe that we can make things in America again.

We have to believe that we can compete on quality, we can compete on efficiency, and that the goods manufactured by American workers are among the best in this world and can be better. It is a matter of belief, it is a matter of commitment, and it is a matter of vision.

So we set forth a vision, Congressman, and we say that, you know what, in this great Nation we can forge these, we can make this steel, we can build the roads.

We can have a vision that this country can build things that the whole world needs and wants. And if we have that desire, that innate desire at the cellular level, we will begin to see the innovative capacity of this country making the windmills, making the semiconductors, making the cars, making anything and everything. But it's matter of vision, it's a matter of will, it's a matter of commitment. And that vision and will has to be backed up by sound policy, hard work, and the spirit of entrepreneurship. And if these things come together we can certainly do it.

But I believe on this House floor, and in shops across America, unions and in management, people are saying, You know what? We can make stuff in America. America is still the world's leading manufacturer. That's important to bear in mind. We can't forget that we are still the world's leading manufacturer, and we have the highest quality steel, the best technology, the strongest workers.

But you know what, when people want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, they might want to offshore jobs because they say, well, maybe we can get somebody to do it for less.

But can you get somebody to do it better? And the world wants something that's quality. The world wants something that's made well, that's made right. And that's what Make it in America is all about.

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Congressman Garamendi, I don't want to go long because I do want to hear from all of our colleagues, but I just want to mention two quick points. I was inspired by Minority Whip Hoyer as he spoke.

Two points:

One is that manufacturing has historically been the high-wage sector for American workers. The middle class was essentially built because we were making things. The higher wages associated with manufacturing employment have been proven to be much higher than your average service jobs. So manufacturing is definitely in the interest of American working and middle class people, and it is something that I think we should get a lot of support for from around the country.

The other thing is that, in order to really bolster a strong manufacturing sector, we need a strong infrastructure. There are over $1 trillion in infrastructure needs around our country just to keep pace with maintenance. I'm talking about making sure the gusset plates on these bridges are working, that there's not the rust and the crumbling of concrete, and making sure that the bridges and the roads are safe. I'm talking about basic infrastructure.

Now, if we really want to go beyond that by building the transmission lines so that we can move power around and all the new innovative infrastructure--that smart grid--then there is a lot more to do.

The point is that I just want folks to know, before I leave it to our colleagues, that manufacturing is good for the middle class and also the attendant and connected jobs that you need to support manufacturing, like infrastructure development. There are also high-wage jobs that we need to invest in so that we can put America back to work.

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