Congressman John D. Dingell

Washington, D.C. - Michigan Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) joined with the state’s Congressional Democrats making a second request to President Bush for help protecting and creating manufacturing jobs in the State. Dingell joined with Michigan’s two Senators and five Democratic House Members on this second letter, delivered to the White House one year after the same Congressional Members sent the President an 11-page comprehensive manufacturing plan which called on the President to take “immediate action in 14 critical areas necessary to stem the devastating loss of manufacturing jobs.”

Congressman Dingell said: “We act together for the people of Michigan, who have seen far too much pain over the past three years with little reason for optimism. We are much worse off than we were four years ago, and I see no sign that President Bush will do anything to make things better for our state.”

Michigan has lost 142,600 manufacturing jobs since 2001. The Members have asked the President to address several issues that have created problems for state employers. They include:

• Health Care and Prescription Drug costs
• Currency Manipulation and unfair trade practices
• Offshoring, the shipping of quality manufacturing jobs overseas
• Appropriate Funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) which helps small and mid-sized American manufacturers modernize and stay competitive in a global marketplace

Congressman Dingell has written legislation that would initiate health care reform and prescription drug reform and create new powers for President to prevent countries from manipulating US currency. He has also co-authored a bill that would crack down on offshoring. All of these proposals are awaiting attention from the Republican-controlled Congress. In addition, Congressman Dingell has been a vocal critic of Bush economic advisor Gregory Mankiw’s idea of re-classifying fast food preparation as manufacturing work.

Click here to view a copy of the letter