Job Creation Initiatives Advance

Press Release

Washington, D.C. (January 28, 2014) -- Funding and new tools to boost job creation and American competitiveness by bringing manufacturing back to the United States are included in the FY 2014 Omnibus spending bill recently signed into law, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Appropriations subcommittee.

Wolf has long argued that rebuilding America's manufacturing sector, which the government estimates lost more than 2 million jobs in the recession, is the key to significantly reducing the unemployment rate in the U.S. The CJS portion of the bill provides $128 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, which helps U.S. businesses streamline manufacturing techniques and increase efficiency and profits. The bill also provides funding "reparation grants" and loans, which build off of initiatives first proposed by Wolf in 2010 and begun in 2012 to help state and local economic development agencies offer incentives to American companies who bring jobs back to America and to companies that develop innovative technologies in the U.S. It also directs the Commerce Department to hold a national summit on manufacturing repatriation this year.

"After years of outsourcing, American firms are now realizing the benefits of bringing production back to the United States," Wolf said. "With unemployment perpetually stuck above 7 percent more than five years after the recess -- and underemployment even higher -- the repatriation of manufacturing is a win-win for American businesses and workers."

In addition, the bill has number of trade enforcement remedies to help American companies increase exports and expand economic growth and job creation.

"Leveling the playing field will give American companies better opportunities to grow and hire new employees," Wolf said. "Chinese state-owned companies that are manipulating the market are one of the largest hindrances to job creation in the U.S."

New to the legislation this year is a provision to update and expand the new "Access Costs Everywhere" Tool (ACE Tool) on the Commerce Department's Web site, an idea originated by Wolf and directed in the FY 2012 spending bill and launched in April 2013. The ACE Tool details the "hidden" costs and risks associated with offshore production, provides testimony from an increasing number of business owners who decided to bring their manufacturing back to America from overseas, and includes links to useful public and private resources. It also identifies and analyzes 10 cost and risk factors such as labor and shipping costs that firms should examine when making production decisions.

"I believe the ACE Tool is a necessary and important resource for business owners to understand the benefits of bringing jobs back to the U.S.," Wolf said. "These are the types of commonsense resources the Commerce Department needs to be developing to support state and local efforts to compete for manufacturing jobs."

The measure also extends a "Buy USA" provision requiring departments and agencies receiving funding through the bill to purchase promotional material like T-shirts and hats from U.S. companies when practical. Additionally, it requires that all promotional items purchased with funds provided by the bill are produced in the U.S.

The Omnibus provides $1.012 trillion in discretionary funding for the operations of the federal government, fulfilling the guidelines of the Ryan-Murray budget agreement and keeping the lights on in the federal government.

Source