Press Releases

Commerce Committee Passes Manufacturing Bill to Create Jobs and Boost Economy

Chairman strongly advocated for U.S. investments in innovation and initiatives to strengthen nation's manufacturing sector during today's markup

April 9, 2014

JDR Head ShotWASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today released the following statements after the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed S. 1468, the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013, which seeks to strengthen collaborations between the government and the manufacturing sector. The legislation now awaits action by the full Senate. 

“Today’s action means we’re one step closer toward increasing our support for American innovation and manufacturing. We must continue to invest in programs that help transform the brilliant scientific discoveries currently taking place in university laboratories into real-world applications on the factory floor,” said Rockefeller. “With this bill, we can bridge the gap from basic research to manufacturing that has doomed so many promising inventions before they’re able to reach the market. Senator Brown has been relentless in his support for workers and the manufacturing industry, and I thank him for all his work on this bill. I also want to thank Ranking Member Thune for his support. Now, it’s time for the full Senate to act on this legislation that will create jobs and boost our economy.”

“Our workers can compete against anyone in the world,” Brown said. “Establishing a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation would create thousands of jobs and ensure the United States remains the global leader in advanced manufacturing. I thank Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Thune, and the entire Commerce Committee for supporting this bipartisan legislation and helping it take another step towards becoming law.” 

 

Background:

The Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013 would create a network of regional hubs that would solve common manufacturing problems for businesses and researchers in that field. The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), within the U.S. Department of Commerce, has already begun creating the regional hubs. 

The first hub created is a pilot project in Youngstown, Ohio, and it operates with the support of federal seed money and funding from a number of businesses, organizations, and universities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Additional hubs have been announced for Detroit, MI; Chicago, IL; and Raleigh, NC. S. 1468 is sponsored by Senators Brown and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

Rockefeller chaired a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in November 2013 titled, “The Role of Manufacturing Hubs in a 21st Century Innovation Economy,” which explored ways that government and industry can collaborate to both foster innovation and strengthen the manufacturing sector. Witnesses included Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker; Michael Garvey, President and CEO of M-7 Technologies, a small manufacturer based in Ohio, which is working with the Youngstown NNMI hub; and, Eric Speigel, the president and CEO of Siemens, which is donating $440 million in state-of-the-art software and training to support the Youngstown NNMI hub.

The Committee’s push to strengthen manufacturing coincides with Rockefeller’s efforts to boost federal investments in research and development – specifically in areas that have led to major breakthroughs and have the potential to create jobs in the global economy. Rockefeller is a strong supporter of the America COMPETES Act, which funds government research and development initiatives that are critical to maintaining the country’s global advantage in these important areas. Last November 2013, Rockefeller held a hearing on reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.

 

List of supporters for S. 1468:

Associations/Organizations

  1. 1. Aerospace Industries Association 
  2. 2. Alliance for American Manufacturing 
  3. 3. America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA)
  4. 4. American Association of Community Colleges
  5. 5. American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC)
  6. 6. American Chemistry Council
  7. 7. American Iron and Steel Institute
  8. 8. American Small Manufacturers Coalition
  9. 9. American Society for Engineering Education
  10. 10. ASME (founded as American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
  11. 11. Association of American Universities (AAU)
  12. 12. Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU)
  13. 13. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
  14. 14. Business Roundtable 
  15. 15. Center for Innovative Food Technology
  16. 16. Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
  17. 17. Columbus Chamber of Commerce
  18. 18. Columbus Partnership
  19. 19. Dayton Development Coalition
  20. 20. Dayton Region Manufacturers Association
  21. 21. Delaware BioScience Association
  22. 22. Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership
  23. 23. Edison Welding Institute (EWI)
  24. 24. Forging Industry Association
  25. 25. Global Automakers           
  26. 26. Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
  27. 27. Jordan Valley Innovation Center
  28. 28. Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Maine MEP)
  29. 29. Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET)
  30. 30. Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus, OH
  31. 31. Mayor Nan Whaley, Dayton, OH
  32. 32. Medical Device Manufacturers Association
  33. 33. Missouri Association of Manufacturers
  34. 34. Missouri Biotechnology Association
  35. 35. Missouri Economic Development Council
  36. 36. Missouri Enterprise
  37. 37. Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA)
  38. 38. National Association of Manufacturers
  39. 39. National Composites Center
  40. 40. National Modeling and Simulation Coalition
  41. 41. National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) 
  42. 42. The New England Council
  43. 43. Ohio Aerospace Institute
  44. 44. Ohio Association of Community Colleges
  45. 45. Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition
  46. 46. Ohio Manufacturers' Association
  47. 47. The Optical Society
  48. 48. Precision Metalforming Association (PMA)
  49. 49. PolymerOhio, Inc.
  50. 50. Saint Louis Economic Development Partnership
  51. 51. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI)
  52. 52. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)
  53. 53. Society for Modeling & Simulation International
  54. 54. Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative
  55. 55. Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
  56. 56. TechColumbus

 

Companies

  1. 57. Alcoa
  2. 58. ANSYS
  3. 59. Applied Materials
  4. 60. Appvion
  5. 61. AT&T
  6. 62. Autodesk
  7. 63. BAE Systems
  8. 64. Ball Corporation
  9. 65. BASF Corporation
  10. 66. Battelle Memorial Institute
  11. 67. Boeing
  12. 68. Brewer Science
  13. 69. Caterpillar Inc.
  14. 70. Corning
  15. 71. Delphi Automotive
  16. 72. DJW Technology
  17. 73. Dow Chemical
  18. 74. Dupont
  19. 75. Eastman Chemical Company
  20. 76. First Solar
  21. 77. GE
  22. 78. Goodyear
  23. 79. Graftech
  24. 80. Honda
  25. 81. Honeywell 
  26. 82. IBM
  27. 83. Intel
  28. 84. Libbey Glass
  29. 85. Lockheed Martin Corporation
  30. 86. Navistar
  31. 87. New Balance
  32. 88. Nucor
  33. 89. Owens Illinois
  34. 90. Proctor & Gamble
  35. 91. Raytheon 
  36. 92. Rockwell Automation
  37. 93. Siemens
  38. 94. Silfex, Inc. and Lam Research Corporation
  39. 95. Smiths Group
  40. 96. SRC Holdings Corp.
  41. 97. SunEdison
  42. 98. TechSolve
  43. 99. Texas Instruments
  44. 100. United States Steel Corporation
  45. 101. United Technologies
  46. 102. Volkswagen
  47. 103. Whirlpool
  48. 104. Xerox

 

Education

  1. 105. Carnegie Mellon University
  2. 106. Case Western Reserve University
  3. 107. Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
  4. 108. Delaware Technical Community College 
  5. 109. Eastern Gateway Community College
  6. 110. George Mason University
  7. 111. Georgia Institute of Technology
  8. 112. Indiana University
  9. 113. Miami University
  10. 114. North Central State College
  11. 115. Northwest State Community College
  12. 116. The Ohio State University 
  13. 117. Ohio University
  14. 118. Ohio University Innovation Center
  15. 119. Ozark Technical Community College 
  16. 120. Rochester Institute of Technology
  17. 121. Stark State College
  18. 122. University of California – Berkeley
  19. 123. University of California – Irvine
  20. 124. University of Cincinnati
  21. 125. University of Colorado-Boulder
  22. 126. University of Illinois 
  23. 127. University of Michigan
  24. 128. University of Missouri 
  25. 129. University of New Hampshire
  26. 130. University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  27. 131. University of Notre Dame
  28. 132. University of Southern California
  29. 133. University of Tennessee – Knoxville
  30. 134. University of Toledo
  31. 135. University of Wisconsin – Madison
  32. 136. University of Wisconsin System
  33. 137. Washington State Community College
  34. 138. Youngstown State University
  35. 139. Zane State College

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