Clark, Under George W. Bush, America's biggest export is jobs

The following is take from remarks made by General Clark at a campaign appearance in Enoree, South Carolina on November 21, 2003:

As you all know, just down the road from here, Riverdale Mill sits dark. The Mill first opened in 1888, and generations of Enoree families worked there for Inman Mills. Children grew up, left town for school, and came back to work. Soldiers were called up for duty, went to war, and came back to work. And while other mills gave out awards for 10 or 20 years of service, it wasn't uncommon for Riverdale to recognize people who'd been working for 40 or 50 years.

But in 2001, after over a century, Riverdale Mill shut down. And I'm told that even on the day the mill closed, the workers worked hard until that massive bell rang for the last time. And they held their heads high as they walked out the door.

Unfortunately, what happened at Riverdale Mill is not an exception. The hard working men and women whose jobs disappeared --- and who are being laid off every week right here at Mt. Shoals and Ramey Mills --- are not alone.

Since President Bush took office, we've lost 3 million private sector jobs --- 2.6 million of them in manufacturing. That's more lost manufacturing jobs in the past 33 months than in the past 20 years combined. And South Carolina has been especially hard hit - -- we've lost 55,000 manufacturing jobs in this state. Today, 129,000 South Carolina Residents are unemployed.

The sad fact is that under George W. Bush, America's biggest export is jobs.

But it's easy to talk statistics. The Bush Administration does a lot of that. Day after day, they paper over job losses with numbers and projections that only economists understand. But I think that George Bush should come down to South Carolina and talk to some of those "statistics." I think he should talk to the men and women who lost their jobs at Riverdale, and who've been laid off from Mt. Shoals and Ramey Mills. Men and women who have to go home and tell their families that there will be no more paychecks, no more health insurance, no more security.

These are the men and women who built this nation from the ground up. And this is the industry that's been the spine of the American economy for decades. It was the factories that got us out of the Great Depression and won World War II. It was the factories that transformed America into an economic superpower. And it is the factories that keep us strong today.

I know this first hand. I served in the United States military for thirty- four years, and I lived on several continents, in thirty-one places. And no matter what we needed --- whether it was uniforms for our soldiers or tires for our jeeps --- there were only four words I ever trusted: "Made in the USA."

Unfortunately, some folks don't have quite as much respect for those words as I do. Our President is one of them. Again and again, Mr. Bush has failed to make the necessary investments to save manufacturing jobs. He's run up our nation's deficit. He's allowed unfair trade practices to flourish. He's sat by as 44 million Americans have gone without health insurance. He's failed to invest enough in worker training. And day after day, he's chipped away at the laws that protect our workers.

President Bush hasn't looked out for American workers. Today, I want to make you a promise: I will.

Because I believe we owe more to the men and women who built this country. We owe more to your children and your communities. And we owe more to that "Made in the USA" label.

So today, I'm going to do my best to give you some answers. Last month, as part of my larger vision for working America, I announced my jobs program: a plan to reduce the tax cuts President Bush gave the wealthiest Americans --- those making more than $200,000 a year --- and direct that money, $100 billion of it, to job creation.

This afternoon, I'm proud to announce my plan to create and protect manufacturing jobs and strengthen our manufacturing industry for the twenty-first century. My plan has three parts.

First, it would jumpstart the manufacturing sector and create new jobs right now, when we need them most. My plan includes a Job Creation Tax Credit which will give manufacturers and other industries that have been shipping jobs abroad up to $10,000 in tax credits for each additional full-time employee they hire in 2004 and 2005.

My plan will also ensure that American manufacturers can compete in the global economy. It levels the playing field by calling on China to stop manipulating its currency. And it calls for a thorough review of every single one of our existing trade agreements. Because we need to guarantee that our trading partners are living up to their end of the agreement to open their markets to U.S. products.

These trade agreements have real consequences for American manufacturers. For example, when we negotiated our trade agreement with China, we included a provision authorizing President to protect America from increases in imports like those we've seen in the textile industry. So for the life of me, I can't understand why the Bush Administration waited until just this week to enforce this law. Our textile manufacturers have been struggling for months, and frankly, it was too little, too late. They deserve better.

Second, my plan would ensure that we stop rewarding companies that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding those that keep them here in America. Job exportation isn't just a manufacturing issue. Just look at the communications industry. Communications companies have been shipping jobs overseas for years. You know the people who answer the phone when you call customer service or order something from a catalogue? Well, you might be calling a company that's based in Illinois or Indiana --- but for all you know, the person on the other end of the line might be sitting in India or Indonesia. And I can guarantee you, the company is paying that person a lot less money and giving them a lot fewer benefits than they give to workers here in America.

Of course, we can't keep all jobs here in America. The last thing we want to do is build a wall between our country and the rest of the world. But it's just plain wrong that our laws often add incentives to shift jobs overseas.

My plan would put an end to that. It closes loopholes in the tax code that reward companies for moving jobs abroad. It creates "Buy American" guidelines for our defense contracts --- because I know that we can "Buy American" without compromising on price or quality. And while I know we can't forbid companies from moving their jobs or headquarters overseas, my plan would guarantee that we don't do anything to reward them.

It would also ensure that we know who they are. Because I would require every single American company to disclose every single layoff it makes, and every single job it exports. Because American consumers, investors and workers have a right to know which companies are costing them jobs.

But let me be clear: creating a level playing field does not mean helping America's workers by hurting those abroad. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. Working to raise labor and environmental standards in developing countries helps workers everywhere. Because a company that operates a factory in a country that ignores core international labor standards, doesn't have to pay to keep their workers safe. In fact, it barely has to pay them at all. No worker should be treated like that. And no American factory should have to compete in a race to the bottom.

Third, my plan would create the conditions we need for the manufacturing sector to thrive in the twenty-first century.

We all know that for America's manufacturing sector to lead the world in the long run, we need to make investments for the long run --- investments that ensure that our children and grandchildren have good jobs and good wages.

First and foremost, this means making health care more affordable. The National Association of Manufacturers has stated that "the rising cost of health care coverage is one of the biggest impediments to sustained recovery in the manufacturing sector."

That's why I've got a health care plan that provides universal access to affordable health insurance for every single American and guarantees universal coverage for every single American child. I'll also fight for pension reform, and for a real prescription drug benefit under Medicare --- not the giveaway to HMOs and drug companies passed by Republicans in Congress.

My plan also works to create the right economic conditions for the manufacturing industry to flourish. It includes provisions to simplify our tax code and make it fairer, more progressive and more pro-growth. It implements regulatory reforms that are not just pro-business --- but pro-worker, pro-consumer and pro- environment as well.

In addition, my plan increases our investments in education and training - and in the Manufacturing Extension Program. It streamlines the federal agencies that help U.S. firms export their products. And it lowers the cost of capital for American companies by reducing the deficit once and for all. My $2.35 trillion dollar "Saving for America's Future" initiative will lower our deficit each and every year for the next ten years.

Finally, I believe that new technology is the key to a strong manufacturing future. Today, America needs a bolder, more ambitious technology policy to encourage research and development and expand innovation. We need to invest in the industries of the future. For example, after I left the Army, I worked with a company that developed a new kind of motor for use in hybrid gas-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars. Before this company was founded, no one had created a motor small enough, light enough, and powerful enough to power a car reliably and efficiently. New technologies like these are good for business, good for workers, and good for our environment.

This is an ambitious plan. But we're an ambitious people. We're a people who love our country, and are committed to making it the best it can be. I can see this as I travel --- here in South Carolina and across America. I see a new spirit --- a New American Patriotism. And that spirit deserves a new kind of leadership --- leadership that will make the right choices for all Americans. Leadership that will move this country forward. Leadership worthy of that "Made in the USA Label."

Also in this section:
Gutman, After the tyrant from Tikrit is forgotten
Leis, Guernica and El Chorrillo
Fisher, The trouble with the Panamanian left
Girvan, Caribbean ministers ponder progress
Clark, Jobs are the biggest US export
Jackson, Misgivings about the main candidates

opinion

Manufacturing policy