Today, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the Rebuild America Act, legislation that includes investments in both manufacturing and infrastructure.

In a statement, Sen. Harkin said that his Rebuild America Act will take several immediate steps to jumpstart the U.S. economy, including:

•    Invest in America’s Roads, Bridges, and Infrastructure: America’s public byways are crumbling as a result of the decade-long failure to invest in our infrastructure. To help overcome this deficit and promote economic growth, the Act provides $300 billion for investments including roads, bridges, and energy efficiency systems.
•    Rebuild America’s Manufacturing Power: While many of our competitors are taking aggressive steps to support domestic manufacturing, the U.S. lacks a coherent strategy to support manufacturers. The Act includes steps to strengthen American manufacturing so that we can better compete in the global economy and establishes a national manufacturing strategy.
•    Prepare Americans for Jobs of the Future: To be competitive in the global economy, Americans must have the skills for 21st Century jobs. The Act offers challenge grants to regional partnerships of businesses, schools, labor, and economic development officials to train workers for well-paying jobs of the future.
•    Pursue Fair Trade: The demand created by America’s middle class is the engine of the world’s economy, but we won’t have a robust economy and a thriving middle class if we allow our trading partners to use unfair trade practices that undercut American workers and manufacturers. The Act includes steps to help American workers compete on a level playing field with our trading partners.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) commends Sen. Harkin for his leadership in advancing a policy agenda to rebuild America’s manufacturing base.  A strong national manufacturing strategy is crucial for America’s economic success in the 21st Century, and Sen. Harkin's inclusion of expanded efforts for research and development, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and access to credit for small manufacturers are important steps.  We’re particularly gratified to see that Sen. Harkin has also chosen to tackle unfair trading practices like currency manipulation and is also seeking permanent funding for the newly created Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC).

Read more about the Rebuild America Act.