Obama’s Mixed Manufacturing Message

Does He or Doesn’t He? President Urges Action to Support American Manufacturing But Threatens Veto on Manufacturing Bill 

President Obama often talks about the need to support American manufacturing, saying he wants to work with Congress to increase investment in U.S. factories and bring back jobs from overseas. Answering these calls, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) authored the Promoting New Manufacturing Act to help increase transparency and reduce unnecessary permitting delays for new U.S. manufacturing projects and expansions. The bill does not change existing requirements that permit applicants install the best available control technologies to address air emissions. The bill would simply require that the EPA, when it issues new or revised air quality standards, provide timely guidance about how to comply with the new standards, and take other actions to help expedite the process. It’s a commonsense measure to help make the American manufacturing renaissance a reality. Here is just a sampling of the president’s previous remarks on the need to help improve U.S. manufacturing:  

• In Pittsburgh in 2011, President Obama stated, “If we want a robust growing economy, we need a robust manufacturing sector.”

• In remarks in Iowa in 2011, President Obama stated, “[A] big part of our future has to be a robust and growing manufacturing sector. We’ve got to make things right here in America.”

• In a 2011 statement, President Obama said, “[W]e need a strong manufacturing sector that will put Americans back to work making products stamped with three proud words: Made in America.”

• In 2012 remarks in Virginia, President Obama said, “We’ve got to have an economy that’s built to last.  And that starts with American manufacturing … We’ve got to do everything we can to encourage more companies to make the decision to invest in America and bring jobs back from overseas.”

• In a 2012 speech at Ohio University, President Obama spoke about growing manufacturing and stated, “Let’s export products stamped with three proud words:  Made in America. That’s what we need to do.”

• In his 2013 State of the Union, President Obama stated, “Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing.”

• In his 2014 State of the Union, President Obama highlighted pending manufacturing projects, stating that businesses “plan to invest almost $100 billion in new factories that use natural gas,” and that he would “cut red tape to help states get those factories built.”

• In a February 2014 speech, President Obama said, “We’ve got to focus on advanced manufacturing to keep that manufacturing here in the United States. … We will make sure the next revolution in manufacturing is an American revolution.”

• Last month, at a Manufacturing Town Hall in Indiana, President Obama said, “And that's the kind of economy that we want to build. And we can build it, and manufacturing is going to be right smack dab in the middle of that effort, we've got to continue to build on the success we have. We're not going to rest on our laurels.”

Given these statements, a proposal like the Promoting New Manufacturing Act  should be something the president welcomes. But instead, the White House issued a veto threat yesterday on the bill. Scalise responded, "President Obama's threat to veto the Promoting New Manufacturing Act is irresponsible and is further proof that he does not want to work with Congress in a bipartisan way to create jobs." If the president is serious about creating more U.S. manufacturing jobs he should reconsider his position.

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