Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) continued his ongoing fight to bring jobs back to North Carolina by supporting two bills to advance domestic manufacturing and create U.S. jobs. The House passed the Congressional Made in America Promise Act and the Berry Amendment Extension Act to obligate Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to buy products that are made in America.
Rep. Shuler is a member of the House Buy American Caucus, a bipartisan group working to stop the trend of sending American manufacturing jobs overseas and promote American manufacturing. “Unfair trade agreements have closed too many American factories and given too many jobs to China and Mexico,” said Rep. Shuler. “We need to incentivize small businesses to grow and expand to offer their products to markets abroad, as well as close tax loopholes that encourage U.S. companies to move aboard or to outsource the jobs we need here.”
Since the passage of the Buy American Act in 1933, the U.S. government has been required to prefer domestic products in its purchases. However, loopholes and inconsistencies often allow for importation that indirectly funds jobs overseas. The Congressional Made in America Promise Act, H.R. 2039, mandates that the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate only purchase materials and supplies made by American workers.
The Berry Amendment has required the Defense Department and the Coast Guard to purchase domestically produced goods for the past 60 years, and the Berry Amendment Extension Act, H.R. 3116, expands the mandate to include Homeland Security. The legislation was supported by National Council of Textile Organizations, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, and others.
“We’ve seen in North Carolina how the textile industry was hammered by unfair trade and a barrage of cheap imports. We currently operate with a $575 billion trade deficit in apparel and textiles. Since December of 2000, we have seen a loss of 587,000 American textile jobs. This bill is an important step in turning that trend around.” said Rep. Shuler.
In July, Rep. Shuler worked to incorporate a “Made in America” provision into the Department of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2011 by introducing an amendment, which, if ruled in order, would have mandated that any textile and apparel products contracted by those agencies be manufactured domestically. Rep. Shuler said, “We have lost enough jobs to countries with less expertise and innovation than we have here. I am fighting to make sure taxpayer money does not go to pay foreign workers when we so desperately need those jobs on American soil.”
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