Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

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Mr. WU. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona seeking to cut all $2.5 million for the Northwest Manufacturing Initiative, NMI.

I, along with all members of Oregon's bipartisan House and Senate delegation as well as House and Senate members from Washington, asked for funding for NMI because of its goal to improve the Department of Defense's industrial base by strengthening the Northwest's diverse, value-added manufacturing sector.

Through research and development to enhance the reliability, cost effectiveness and performance of defense related products and through increasing our ability to train and deliver work-ready employees to defense related manufacturing companies, NMI will increase and improve the contributions of Northwest companies to the nation's industrial preparedness and security.

We have seen what innovative and cutting edge technologies can come out of the Northwest to benefit our military:

HemCon, located in my Congressional district, has developed a new bandage technology that has already saved the lives of dozens of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the Army Surgeon General has requested that every soldier deployed to a combat zone carry a HemCon Bandage in their first-aid kit.

Similarly, through work being done at iSense in my district, military doctors will have the technology to quickly detect severe blood loss or internal bleeding. There is no doubt in my mind that these technologies have and will save the lives of Americans at home and abroad.

Another company, InSport, is ensuring that our service members have the best products available in combat. InSport has developed base layer t-shirts for our military that resist the build up of bacteria that adversely affects performance on the battlefield.

Yet, despite these innovative companies, challenges remain. Many small defense companies, especially those in manufacturing, have trouble finding skilled workers.

The NMI will help train manufacturing workers and increase participation of innovative companies. It will allow an entire region's companies to learn from each other, and more Oregonians to learn to earn.

More importantly, it will save the Department of Defense, DOD, time and money by making these manufacturers more efficient and competitive and, consequently, able to provide better and less expensive products.

Mr. Chairman, I support the Northwest Manufacturing Initiative and I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendmen

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