With unemployment hovering around 8 percent, Congress must find ways to support job creation.  I believe that one important way to improve our economy is to rebuild our manufacturing sector and bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

According to a recent survey, some of the largest U.S. based manufacturers have already brought jobs back to America or are considering bringing jobs back to America.  In the past, companies were focused on outsourcing jobs to other countries but now the conversation is changing.  Due to high production costs and the increasing cost of labor in countries like China, companies are now interested in bringing jobs home. I introduced legislation last year that would help manufacturing companies accomplish this goal.  To read more about the survey click here.

Here are some of the ways I have been working in Congress to promote job creation in the 10th District and throughout the United States.

• Bring Jobs Back to America Act and the FY 2012 Appropriations bill
• Increasing Exports
• Maintaining Our Competitive Edge

Bring Jobs Back to America Act provisions signed into law

As chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Commerce Department, I have included language in the FY 2012 spending bill, signed into law in November 2011, to develop a comprehensive plan to bring manufacturing and other jobs back to America.
 
The legislation requires the Commerce Department to immediately set up a task force to examine what needs to be done to encourage U.S. companies to bring their manufacturing and research and development activities back to America’s shores.  The department also must develop a list of “best practices” for states and communities to follow to help foster the repatriation of jobs that have moved abroad.

The goal of the task force is to develop a national job repatriation strategy to bring jobs back to America that have been outsourced to China and other countries.

The provisions are in the Commerce Department’s FY 2012 budget, which was part of the so-called “minibus” spending measure to fund the departments of transportation, agriculture, commerce, justice and federal science agencies, including NASA.

The measure incorporates most of my bipartisan Bring Jobs Back to America bill (H.R. 516) first introduced in the 111th Congress and reintroduced in the 112th Congress.

Among other things, the language:

• Requires the Commerce Department to work with the Treasury secretary and the House Committee on Ways and Means to examine the merits of providing tax credits for companies that bring jobs back to America.
• Requires the Commerce Department to develop an online calculator for firms to use to determine “hidden costs” of offshoring manufacturing such as shipping or security costs.
• Provides $5 million in Economic Development Agency (EDA) grant money to be used to encourage U.S. companies to bring their services, manufacturing, and/or research and development activities back to economically distressed regions in the U.S.
• Provides $5 million in federal loan guarantees to small and medium-sized manufacturers for the use or production of innovative technologies. 
• Funds are provided to hire staff who can translate trade documents received from China to deal with challenges associated with enforcing existing trade laws.
• Fully funds the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate, verify and enforce trade agreements that are free and fair.

Below is the final FY 2012 Commerce-Justice-Science bill and accompanying report language incorporated in the minibus: 

Final Bill Language

• The Secretary of Commerce shall establish a task force on job repatriation and manufacturing growth and shall produce a report on related incentive strategies and implementation plans.
   

Final Conference Report

• Repatriation Grants – The conference agreement includes funds as proposed by the House for EDA to use its programs as a source for working with U.S. companies to bring their services, manufacturing, and/or research and development activities back to economically distressed regions in the United States.
   
• Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) – The conference agreement includes funding for new loan guarantee programs as authorized under sections 26 and 27 of the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 111-358).  The America COMPETES Act includes a number of safeguards with respect to these programs and the conferees expect EDA to rigorously abide by the requirements outlined in this legislation under 15 U.S C. 3721 and 15 U. S. C. 3722.  Specifically, the Secretary, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, shall implement accountability measures that strongly protect the financial interest of the United States.  Finally, the conferees encourage EDA to use a portion of the funds provided in this Act for programs authorized under section 27 of the America COMPETES Act for science parks. The conferees do not adopt the Senate’s separate account line for Regional Innovation Partnerships and instead encourage EDA to support such activities from within the EAA account.  In addition, the conference agreement includes up to $1,000,000 to support innovative, energy efficient grant programs for small businesses.  The conferees remind EDA to ensure that award decisions are made at the regional level rather than at headquarters, that award decisions reflect geographic equity and that rural areas are among those chosen when awarding EDA funding.

U.S Patent and Trademark Office (PTO):

• National Security Concerns – The conferees adopt by reference House report language regarding the need to update security procedures for patent applications that have national security implications and direct PTO to report to the Committees on Appropriations within 60 days of enactment of this Act regarding practices currently used by third parties to safeguard sensitive patent applications.  This report shall provide a framework for suggested improvements for security standards used in the private sector.

Final House Report (Enacted with passage of Conference Report)

• Repatriation Task Force – The report includes language directing the Secretary of Commerce, in concert with appropriate agencies within the Department of Commerce, including ITA, EDA, and NIST, to establish a task force to examine incentives and other activities needed to encourage U.S. companies to bring their manufacturing and research and development activities back to the United States. The secretary shall also provide a report that outlines the incentive strategies and the number of firms that the task force will engage in this effort. As part of this effort, the committee encourages the secretary to consult with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Committee on Ways and Means to examine the issue of providing tax credits to companies that repatriate their operations back to the United States. The Department of Commerce shall consult with the committee prior to beginning this effort and shall provide a report by February 1, 2012. In addition, the committee directs the secretary to update the 2004 report, Manufacturing in America: A Comprehensive Strategy to Address the Challenges to U.S. Manufacturers, and provide it to the committee by December 1, 2011.
   
• Repatriation Initiative – The committee is supportive of the administration’s efforts to double U.S. exports over the next five years. A key component of this initiative is the repatriation of U.S. jobs that have moved abroad. Therefore, the committee directs the secretary to launch a job repatriation initiative, to include the development of a ‘‘best practices’’ for states and local communities to use to grow their manufacturing base. The initiative not only shall include the expertise and resources of the economic development agencies at the Department of Commerce, including the International Trade Administration, the Economic Development Administration, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, but also shall be coordinated with other Federal economic development agencies, such as the Small Business Administration. The secretary shall submit a report to the committee on the implementation of this initiative not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act.
   
• Total Cost of Ownership Calculator – Further, commerce shall report to the committee regarding the development of an online calculator that firms may use to determine ‘‘hidden costs’’ of offshore manufacturing, e.g. shipping costs and other factors, so that companies would be aware of the total cost of manufacturing overseas.
   
• Repatriation of Manufacturing – The Committee wishes to emphasize the urgent need to revitalize the Nation’s manufacturing base, including the need to reverse the trend toward offshoring U.S. manufacturing activities. The Committee encourages NIST, through the MEP and in concert with repatriation efforts noted elsewhere in this report, to focus efforts on re-shoring manufacturing, including by developing a suite of tools and services as appropriate that MEP centers can use to identify U.S.-based suppliers for original equipment manufacturers that have off-shored production.
   
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Manufacturing – The committee encourages NSF’s planned activities related to the Advanced Manufacturing initiative. Future economic prosperity in the United States will depend largely on our ability to develop and manufacture new products based on advanced technologies, both for the domestic market and for export. Basic research supported through the NSF and other federal science agencies is critical to this effort because it will help provide the foundation for the development of such new products and technologies by the private sector.
   
• Economic Security Commission – The secretary is directed to establish an Economic Security Commission, modeled upon similar efforts of the Reagan Administration, to advise the administration and the Congress on U.S. long-term strategic competitive manufacturing challenges. The department shall consult with the committee prior to beginning this effort.
   
• Economic Security – By statute, patent applications are published no earlier than 18 months after the filing date, but it takes an average of about three years for a patent application to be processed. This period of time between publication and patent award provides worldwide access to the information included in those applications. In some circumstances, this information allows competitors to design around U.S. technologies and seize markets before the U.S. inventor is able to raise financing and secure a market. In order to promote U.S. economic security and protect inventors’ intellectual property rights, the committee directs the PTO to study its patent publishing process and consider the alternative of publishing only the patent abstract instead of the entire application. The PTO shall report to the committee on this effort within 30 days of enactment of this Act.  
   
• USA Today: How the U.S. Can Launch a Manufacturing renaissance (06/21/10)
• Response from Secretary Locke to Wolf call for repatriation program (05/07/10)
• The Wall Street Journal: Caterpillar Joins "Onshoring" Trend (03/11/10)

 Increasing Exports

As former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Commerce Department, I have fought for export promotion by providing resources for American companies to access new markets and by holding violators accountable for unfair trade practices.  As Chairman of our subcommittee, I helped to set -- and achieve -- the goals of increasing U.S. exports and better coordinating our response to unfair trade practices.

I also helped to create one-stop shops for trade promotion, American Trading Centers in China to assist American exporters, expanded Market Access Compliance in China, and developed the Office of China Compliance to address anti-dumping concerns.

I have also worked to strengthen our greatest asset in export promotion -- the worldwide network of the Foreign Commercial Service.  The Foreign Commercial Service provides information, referral and follow-up services through a global field network.  This work is especially important now, because it translates into jobs, and it increases the competitiveness of American industry.  By increasing the number of U.S. firms that export and enabling them to increase their volume of exports, new jobs will be created.

In May, I spoke to a packed room of northern Virginia business owners about tapping into the global marketplace to help create jobs here.  Secretary Locke joined us in Leesburg at Precision Tune Auto Care to discuss how the U.S. Export Assistance Center in northern Virginia can support small- and medium-sized manufacturers to start exporting abroad.

• Loudoun Times: U.S. Secretary of Commerce makes a short-notice stop in Loudoun (06/21/10)

• National Export Initiative
• Grants, Contracting, and Trade Opportunities at the Commerce Department

Maintaining Our Competitive Edge

I believe sound investments in our high technology economy are critical to maintain our competitive advantage in today’s global economy and create American jobs.  Education is also a critical component of any sustainable economy.  We should incentivize and encourage young Americans to study math and science so that we can be international pioneers of new technology and design.  Visit my American Competitiveness page for more information on my work to create jobs through investments in research and development, math, science and engineering.