Hoyer Continues ‘Make It In America’ Efforts
Congressman Steny H. Hoyer
Congressman Steny Hoyer continues this month to push his Make It In America initiatives because “every American who wants to work hard and take responsibility ought to have a job that pays well and opens doors of opportunity to the middle class.”
Mr. Hoyer described the initiative earlier this month to the Washington D.C. press corps:
“Make It In America is an ambitious plan to invest in manufacturing jobs and competitiveness both in the immediate term and over the longer term. It does so by focusing on four key action areas that not only have bipartisan support but that also are common sense.
“First, as any successful leader in business will tell you, we need a plan, which is why the first component of the Make It In America agenda is to adopt and pursue a national manufacturing strategy. A bill that did that passed in the last Congress with over 350 votes. It passed out of the committee unanimously, and it hasn’t been brought to the floor. We need a plan.
“Secondly, more exports. More exports means more jobs for American workers, who have always built the products that make our world run.
“Third, we have to do more to encourage businesses to bring jobs and innovation home to America to create jobs for our people. America has always been an innovation hub and ought to continue to be for generations to come – and businesses are increasingly locating innovation labs near manufacturing floors, so we need to make sure that those manufacturing floors are here in America.
“And, fourth, we must invest in training and securing a twenty-first century workforce that can attract jobs to our communities and form the core of the next generation of our middle class.”
The press conference follows on the heels of Mr. Hoyer’s assessment of good news regarding growth of private sector jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 216,000 private sector jobs were created in May.
“Our economy is recovering” Mr. Hoyer said at the time the job growth was announced, “but Congress must do much more in order for our jobs recovery to pick up speed. In order for every American who is seeking a job to find one, there must be a concerted effort in Congress to help American businesses compete, expand, and hire for positions that pay well and open doors of opportunity.
“Congress can take action on a number of items that would further strengthen our economy, including passing Make It In America legislation that focuses on encouraging manufacturing job growth. Additionally, there ought to be no further delay by Congress in restoring emergency unemployment insurance to those who have been cut off from benefits since December. Nor should Congress continue to put off considering a bill to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour so that our workers can afford to pursue the American Dream through higher education, homeownership, retirement savings, and other opportunities that provide access to a secure place in the middle class.”
