Letter to National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler

October 18, 2006

The Honorable John Engler, President

National Association of Manufacturers

1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20004

Dear Governor Engler:

We are writing as Members of Congress from Michigan to express our strong concerns with the overtly partisan and often irrelevant agenda of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) for the manufacturers and working men and women in our state and nation.

As you well know, Michigan has lost nearly 1 in 3 manufacturing jobs since 1999 and we still face a tough road ahead. Of course, manufacturers in our state are not helped when the organization that is supposed to represent in them in Washington, D.C. either opposes or ignores measures that would benefit them. While NAM has certainly shown a lack of ability to address the real issues facing domestic manufacturers in previous years, your recent decision to not support and actually display open hostility towards legislation to address China's currency manipulation (H.R. 1498 & S. 295) is truly concerning. This currency manipulation is a real concern to American manufacturers and workers and should be of concern to all Americans considering our nation's current record and growing trade deficit with China.

Unfortunately, NAM does not seem to recognize this concern and instead focuses its narrow, partisan agenda on issues which are mostly irrelevant and sometimes even harmful to the majority of manufacturers in Michigan and the United States. This is seen most clearly in NAM's Congressional Voting Record scorecard from the 109th and previous Congresses. Interestingly, between the 106th and 109th Congresses, Michigan's six Democratic U.S. Representatives scored an average 13% voting record on NAM's supposed "key votes."

These very low grades were quite concerning, until we looked at the basis of the scores and learned that the votes NAM scores Members of Congress only on certain votes and issues that are clearly partisan and have little if anything to do with helping the majority of Michigan and American manufacturers and workers. For example, the following efforts on behalf of Michigan and American manufacturers were not scored (and sometimes not even supported) by NAM, but were backed by all or many Members from the Michigan Congressional Delegation:

1) Adequate funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.

2) Vote on H.R. 250, the Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act to help coordinate federal manufacturing research and development efforts (109th Congress).

3) Vote on the motion to recommit on H.R. 4297, which would have extended the research and development tax credit (109th Congress).

4) Increased funding for the Economic Development Administration.

5) Vote on the Larson Amendment to H.R. 250 to establish a Manufacturing and Technology Administration in the Department of Commerce (109th Congress).

6) Tax legislation to encourage U.S. manufacturers to keep their factories at home.

7) Vote on the Gordon Amendment to H.R. 3598 to increase funding for the MEP program by 10 percent a year, starting in fiscal year 2005, continuing through fiscal year 2008 (108th Congress).

These are just some examples of issues that are of importance to American manufacturers and workers that were not scored by NAM, but supported by us and many other Members of Congress. For this reason, it would seem to us that our supposedly terrible voting record with NAM is highly inaccurate of our efforts on behalf of the manufacturers and instead reflects an overtly partisan and skewed agenda that does not reflect upon the real issues of concern to manufacturers and workers in Michigan and this country.

In closing, we strongly suggest NAM revaluate its priorities and work to stem its growing partisanship and irrelevancy to the concerns facing American manufacturers and workers. Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Dale Kildee, M.C. John Dingell, M.C.

Sander Levin, M.C. John Conyers, M.C.

Bart Stupak, M.C. Carolyn Kilpatrick, M.C

http://www.house.gov/list/press/mi05_kildee/pr_102006NAMletter.htm