WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, Ranking Member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) today lauded the American COMPETES Act as a down payment toward reinvigorating America’s manufacturing sector and ensuring that our skilled workforce is strengthened through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) research and advanced technical training.  Sen. Hutchison also called for a stable regulatory environment to keep manufacturing jobs in America.

Sen. Hutchison made the following statements at today’s hearing: 

“While we are still the major manufacturing country in the world, we have lost market share and I think we do need to stay on top of that kind of a trend and do what we can to assure that America is continuing to be competitive.

“Today we are looking for a highly skilled workforce, and the America COMPETES Act is essential to ensure that we are valuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses, and making sure that we have technology training and the most advanced computer capabilities that are possible.

“We must also aggressively open our markets. We have free-trade agreements that have been languishing that could add to our export capabilities and could add to the ability of other countries to buy our products. I hope that we can look to ratifying trade agreements that are in our county’s best interests that already in play.

“A stable regulatory environment is very important to keeping manufacturing in America. When I talk to a CEO that does international business, I will inevitably ask, ‘Why did you put your manufacturing operation in another country rather than in America?’ They will cite higher taxes, the corporate tax rate in America being among the highest in the world, and the unstable regulatory environment. We must keep that in mind as laws are passed that restrict the capability of our manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace.”