Following the cloture vote on Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nevada) jobs bill, the National Association of Manufacturers president John Engler on February 22 issued the following statement:
“Manufacturers have lost more than two million jobs since the recession began in December of 2007, so we are very aware of how critically important the jobs debate is to our economy and overall global competitiveness. We believe any legislation with a goal of creating jobs must have long-term incentives that encourage businesses to invest and create jobs. Government doesn’t create jobs, business does.
“We support efforts to extend the current Surface Transportation Authorization for one year if this leads to a permanent six-year bill. Creating a level of transportation funding predictability to the states absent a robust multi-year surface transportation authorization and maintaining solvency of the Highway Trust Fund is a priority that will help preserve high wage manufacturing jobs in the transportation materials and equipment supply chain. And, according to a recent report commissioned by the Manufacturers and conducted by the independent Milken Institute, “Jobs for America: Investments and Policies for Economic Growth and Competitiveness,” investing in our infrastructure will not only make us more competitive but will create millions of jobs. We also support the extension of the Build American Bonds program which states and localities have utilized to reduce borrowing costs and continue making capital improvements to infrastructure during a time of economic recession. However, we are deeply disappointed that the Majority Leader’s bill does not include key incentives that we believe will help spur growth and economic activity such as the retroactive extensions of a strengthened R&D tax credit as well as other expired provisions. This credit has expired 14 times since 1981 when it was enacted. We encourage Congress to make the R&D better and permanent as it gives companies a reason to invest in America – 70 percent of the credit goes directly to U.S. wages.
“Further, our ‘Jobs for America’ report finds that by increasing the R&D credit by 25 percent and making it permanent, we would boost total employment by 510,000 this decade. (To see the full report, visit www.nam.org.) While we are the largest manufacturing economy in the world, the ability of business to compete in a global economy is suffering due to increased costs and regulation. We encourage Congress to consider our proposals and work with us to ensure we maintain our global edge while creating jobs that will help our economy grow.”
The National Association of Manufacturers is the nation’s largest industrial trade association, representing manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing has a presence in every single congressional district providing good, high-paying jobs. For more information, visit www.nam.org.