The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) president and CEO John Engler issued a statement on July 15 following the Senate’s vote on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173):
“While we support Congress’s efforts to improve transparency, accountability and stability in our nation’s financial system, we are concerned about the overall impact of a new and complex regulatory system on the U.S. economy and more specifically, U.S. capital markets. Our nation’s unemployment still hovers close to 10 percent and manufacturers face ever-growing challenges as we emerge from this recession. This legislation will only add more costs and have a negative impact on those who had nothing to do with the financial crisis. We need to focus on policies that will grow our economy and enable job creation. While we appreciate Congress’s efforts to work with manufacturers during the legislative debate to preserve our ability to access over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives to manage risk, we believe the additional requirements imposed on derivatives transactions will increase the cost of risk management.
“The United States is the strongest, largest and most productive manufacturing economy in the world. But our competitors want to take our place, and their national governments dedicate themselves to this goal with resources and strategic planning. The NAM has put forth specific priorities and policy recommendations to Congress in our ‘Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America.’ We urge Congress to focus on pro-growth policies that encourage investment and job creation and allow manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace.”
To read the NAM’s manufacturing strategy, visit http://www.nam.org/ManufacturingStrategy.
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. Follow the association’s commentary on U.S. manufacturing policy at www.twitter.com/Shopfloor_NAM and at www.shopfloor.org.