WASHINGTON—Both the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives took action to help American manufacturing and manufacturing workers.
On July 23, the House passed H.R 2397, the American Manufacturing Leadership Act, a bipartisan bill to reauthorize and improve the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act of 2014.
H.R. 2397 would increase funding for the RAMI Act, strengthen the Manufacturing USA program, a public-private network of 14 manufacturing institutes to increase U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing, according to a press release from the office of Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., the chief sponsor of the legislation.
The bill also would strengthen the institutes' role in advanced manufacturing workforce development and facilitate regional supply chain development, the release said. It would expand the authorities of the Manufacturing USA program office within the National Institute of Science and Technology to collaborate with other agencies.
It alsp would encourage the program office to develop pilot programs and identify and disseminate best practices in education and workforce training for the institutes.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing was among the organizations that endorsed H.R. 2397.
"This bipartisan legislation will strengthen our innovation ecosystem by promoting more robust outreach to small and medium-sized businesses, strengthening the institutes' role in workforce development, and encouraging the establishment of additional manufacturing institutes to ensure the U.S. continues to be a global leader in manufacturing technology," AAM said.
Two days later, President Trump and his daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump joined with Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, and Carolyn Lee, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute, to sign the Pledge to America's Workers Signed July 25, the pledge represents the commitment of NAM members to provide training opportunities for nearly 1.2 million manufacturing workers over the next five years to address the industry's skills gap crisis, the NAM said in a press release.
"Manufacturers face a workforce crisis, with more than half a million unfilled manufacturing jobs today and 2.4 million jobs that may go unfilled by 2028," said Timmons, who also is chairman of the Manufacturing Institute.
"But manufacturers are also problem solvers and committed to being part of the solution," he said. "So today manufacturers proudly make this pledge to the American worker: We will continue to invest in our workforce."