Current legislation View the status of legislation Congressman Ehlers is currently involved in.
Assisting Michigan manufacturers and creating jobs
Many manufacturers in the Third District are facing hardships because of troubles in the domestic automotive industry. While domestic car manufacturers are making good strides in returning to prosperity and still play a most vital role in our region’s economy, I realize as a Congressman I must still do everything in my power to improve American competitiveness in the global marketplace, and I strongly support emerging business sectors that can ensure the vitality of our region.
Although the state and local governments and non-profit economic development organizations have the most tools at their disposal to help Third District businesses succeed and create jobs, I have been successful here in Washington in supporting initiatives that will help create jobs and strengthen competitiveness in West Michigan.
A key factor to ensuring the competitiveness of our manufacturers is innovation; an area where I have been a leader in Congress. I have authored legislation that will stimulate innovation through collaborative research and development, a crucial factor in business competitiveness. Investment by the federal government in university research and development programs will aide small to medium-sized manufacturers and give them the capability to compete globally, in the face of increasing research and development overseas. I also successfully fought for an additional $11 million in trade adjustment assistance grants for the state of Michigan for the training of workers who have lost their jobs.
I also helped organize a national summit hosted by the Department of Commerce that brought together key leaders from government and industry to discuss actions that are necessary to strengthen America’s innovation capacity. Strengthening innovation and competitiveness should be a focus at all levels of government, and I promise to continue to maintain my commitment to innovation and business competitiveness in my role in Congress.
Another key factor in ensuring the economic vitality of my district is the diversification of its employment base. Emerging sectors such as health care and high-tech business are already playing a large role in West Michigan’s business picture, providing jobs to thousands of residents. I recently helped the West Michigan Strategic Alliance secure a highly sought after grant, Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED), which will allow West Michigan to develop a more highly-skilled workforce to attract jobs in emerging sectors. I regularly meet with local economic development leaders and constituents to get the latest information on the employment situation in my district, and to discuss how federal programs and policies impact these developments.
Finally, I am committed to positioning our economy to be competitive in the years to come by strengthening math and science education at all grade levels. As co-chairman and founder of the Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Education Caucus, I have been the leading advocate in Congress for bolstering those issues in our public schools, community colleges and universities to create a well-educated workforce that will have the edge in the global economy for generations to come. This includes improving math and science education and the teaching quality of math and science teachers by increasing funding to programs like the Math and Science Partnerships program, which is the only dedicated source of funding for professional development and training for math and science teachers. We must improve our math-science education programs. Right now, we are ranked lower than most developed countries.
There is no single answer to our state’s economic woes, but through increasing innovations and competitiveness in manufacturing, diversifying our employment base, and creating a generation of highly-skilled and highly-motivated workers, we can make large strides in getting on our feet again.
Improving the environmental health of the Great Lakes
Despite my district being landlocked, I am one of the leading advocates in Congress for improving the health of our state’s most valuable natural resource – the Great Lakes!
I authored one of the most important and successful pieces of legislation to date on cleaning up the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which passed in 2002. It authorized funding for the cleanup of pollution ”hot spots” identified by the Environmental Protection Agency. The success of this legislation is already evident in West Michigan; the Great Lakes Legacy Act helped provide around two-thirds of the funding for the clean up of contaminated sediment in Ruddiman Creek in Muskegon, which was completed in May of 2005. I have introduced a bill that would extend this successful program for five more years and triple the amount of federal funding that may be allocated to the program. I will continue to press for additional funding to clean up polluted sites. I have been told by several experts that this is the best-designed and most successful clean-up program in the Federal Government.
Despite some successes, we still lack comprehensive legislation to clean up and protect the Great Lakes. Threats such as aquatic invasive species continue to pose an imminent and growing threat to the health of the lakes. Invasive species like the zebra mussel and lamprey eel severely disrupt the ecology of the lakes and also cause economic damage, especially to commercial and sports fishery. I have authored legislation to keep invasive creatures out by strengthening current ballast water regulations for international shipping vessels and also creating a new rapid response plan. We know most aquatic invasive species make their way into our waters in the ballast water tanks of ocean-going vessels, and ships should be required to install ballast tank treatment systems to kill or remove organisms in their ballast tanks before entering U.S. waters.
We lack comprehensive legislation to protect the lakes from additional pollution. To meet this need, I wrote a comprehensive bill to expand and improve several existing programs and better coordinate them across federal agencies. The bill implements many of the key recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration strategy. As an environmentalist, it is my goal to work as hard as I can to see all Great Lakes issues addressed while I am in Congress.
Advocating alternative energy sources and energy efficiency
No one likes paying higher prices for fuel for their automobile or for natural gas to heat their home. That is why I believe it is in the best interest of the United States to aggressively develop alternative sources of energy to power our vehicles and heat and cool our structures. Sustainable energy is economically viable and environmentally sound.
I have worked tirelessly in Congress to encourage the development of alternative energy sources for vehicles. High consumer demand for gasoline in America and other countries has, in part, led to gas prices that routinely top $3 per gallon – and there is no sign they will come down anytime soon. Diversifying fuel sources will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and will be a boon for the environment. Corn-based ethanol has emerged as a popular alternative fuel for vehicles, but it is clear to me that this will not make a significant impact on the consumption of fossil fuels in vehicles because it requires a lot of energy and land to grow corn, and because there are competing uses for corn. Other biofuels are being investigated by both car manufacturers and government researchers, which show some promise.
Of course, conservation is the easiest first step we can all take to reduce overall demand. I urge my constituents to try to reduce the amount they drive, to carpool, take public transportation when possible, or invest in a hybrid or energy-efficient vehicle to help offset our country’s dependence on foreign oil. You may even spot me driving my gas-electric hybrid car around the Third District!
There are also technologies and techniques emerging that are both environmentally-friendly and cost-effective. The “Green” building movement in West Michigan is among the fastest-growing in the nation – developers and consumers are adopting environmentally good materials, building techniques, and power sources in their homes and businesses. In fact, the city of Grand Rapids received international recognition by the United Nations for its sustainability initiatives. Home owners can take small but meaningful steps such as improving home insulation and using fluorescent lights to make homes more energy efficient.
One of my priorities in Congress has been to promote sustainability and leverage the increased popularity of conserving resources to help create jobs. I recently authored an amendment to a bill in the House that will include “sustainable manufacturing” to the list of industries eligible to participate in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program, which (if it becomes law) would provide federal grants for worker training in “Green” jobs. It is certainly worth providing sustainability training to job seekers while at the same time providing incentives to manufacturers to use environmentally-friendly and sustainable practices.
It is my hope that the “Green” movement will create new jobs that will satisfy the growing demand for these new practices, and encourage others to think “Green”. I will continue to do whatever I can in Congress to promote the concept of sustainability.
Ensuring quality education programs
As a former educator myself, I know firsthand the value of a quality education. A high quality education can open doors of opportunity to every individual. We are competing on a global level, and a well-educated population here in the United States is crucial to our country’s success.
While K-12 education remains primarily a state and local responsibility, the federal government provides significant funding to states in return for demonstrating results. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act holds states and schools accountable for using these federal resources to close the achievement gap between students and to ensure that all students are proficient in reading and math. Meeting these overarching goals is critical to the success of our students. However, as with any major, new federal law, Congress should review the NCLB Act and resolve issues that have arisen since it was signed into law in 2001.
I believe that the No Child Left Behind Act should do more to help our students. I have introduced legislation to amend the law to create voluntary education content standards for science and math, and gives states incentives to adopt the standards. I also introduced a bill which holds schools accountable for ensuring that students learn science, as NCLB already does for math and reading. Our children deserve a high-quality education that will prepare them for the jobs of the future regardless of where they live.
I have also been involved in a variety of other forms of legislation intended to help children learn. I recently supported bills to improve school libraries, strengthen the federal Head Start program, and help college and university students find additional financial aid for students studying subjects in science, math, engineering and technology.
