Tierney wants return to Made in USA label

PEABODY – A longtime opponent of outsourcing U.S. manufacturing jobs to cheaper foreign labor sources abroad, U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney on Thursday urged Congress to modernize and improve the nation’s industrial base.As chairman of the National Security Oversight Subcommittee, Tierney called for a return to the Made in USA label that for more than a century made the country into a manufacturing powerhouse.During a subcommittee hearing entitled “Made in the USA: Manufacturing Policy, the Defense Industrial Base and U.S. National Security,” the congressman said American manufacturing jobs have declined markedly during the past decade.”For decades, manufacturing has been the backbone of the American economy,” he said. “However, despite the importance of innovation and manufacturing to our national economy, manufacturing jobs have been dropping steadily over the last several decades.”According to Tierney, the U.S. must focus on modernizing and improving its industrial base in order to provide better employment opportunities for Americans and to strengthen national security.”We have to start to think strategically about the industrial challenges we face and take aggressive action to fully address them.”Tierney noted that immediately after World War II, manufacturing accounted for 40 percent of American jobs, while today the number is closer to 11 percent.Tierney said the decrease in domestic manufacturing has forced the U.S. Department of Defense to look abroad to acquire the tools it needs to arm the military. “This outsourcing leaves our critical defense needs subject to international and political forces that are beyond our control,” he said.Witnesses at the hearing emphasized the need for a tax policy that discourages – rather than encourages – the off-shoring of work, a trade policy that steps up enforcement against violations by competitor nations, said Tierney spokesman Kathryn Prael.Tierney said the manufacturing policy must dovetail with a monetary policy that contests and counteracts attempts by other nations to blatantly manipulate money values. He also advocated for a workforce policy that increases education and training resources as necessary to reverse declines in manufacturing in the U.S.