Make It In America
In 2022, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Democrats unveiled the new Make It In America plan to create jobs and expand economic opportunity. With too many Americans only getting by instead of getting ahead, the plan focuses on four key areas where Congress can be a partner in creating the best conditions for the growth of jobs and opportunities. They are: education, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, and supply chain resilience. Twenty-two bipartisan Make It In America bills have now been enacted into law, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021 and the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022.
To read Leader Hoyer’s remarks on the updated Make It In America plan, click here. For more information on the goals and policy recommendations included in the Make It In America plan, click here.
First launched by Leader Hoyer in 2010 when our economic recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis was just beginning, the Make It In America plan has been focused on gathering the best ideas and transforming them into policies that Congress can enact to help workers and businesses succeed. The plan has brought together bipartisan policies and legislation aimed at promoting economic growth, the creation of jobs that won’t be outsourced, and building a competitive workforce that can access opportunities in today’s changing global economy.
Recognizing the many changes that took place during our recovery, House Democrats held a series of hearings in 2015 called “Make It In America: What’s Next?” to explore new challenges and new opportunities in our economy. During the hearing series, seventy-seven House Democrats heard testimony from innovators, entrepreneurs, economists, Members of Congress, and others about how the Make It In America plan should be updated to address new challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. Click here for a look at testimony from the hearings. It was in these hearings that House Democrats identified the three original areas on which Congress ought to focus: education, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure.
Understanding that the best ideas would come from outside of Washington, Leader Hoyer and House Democrats embarked on the Make It In America Listening Tour starting in 2017, visiting nine cities across the country to hear directly from Americans about the challenges they face and identifying best practices in meeting them. The ideas shared on this tour informed the 2018 update to the Make It In America plan.
As we continue our financial recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Make It In America agenda is responding to the challenges of today’s economy with the inclusion of a fourth pillar, supply chain resilience, which joins MIIA’s existing pillars of education, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure to serve as an effective playbook to expand American families’ and businesses’ access to the tools they need to succeed in our twenty-first century global economy
Today’s announcement by the President to provide states with flexibility in return for education reform is a positive step, and I look forward to learning more details about the Administration’s plan. Maryland and other states awarded funding through the Race to the Top grant program have been undertaking serious efforts aimed at raising graduation rates, ensuring high-quality teachers in every classroom, and closing the achievement gap in key subjects such as reading and math. I am disappointed that Congress has not yet been able to come together on a bipartisan basis to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is a central component of Democrats’ Make it in America jobs plan. I hope doing so will be the next step as we continue seeking ways to prepare more of our students to succeed.
For decades public health has been the basis for how we enact emissions standards. The bill before us today, the TRAIN Act, represents a view of environmental protection that is simply off the rails.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, we are reminded of the important contributions of the Latino community to our economy while at the same time we reflect on the fact that the Latino community has been one of the hardest hit communities by the recession. Democrats are committed to addressing this challenge by focusing on the Make It In America plan – a plan to support job creation by revitalizing American innovation and industry, rebuilding our communities and investing in education and our workforce.
The plan put forward by the President today is a balanced approach to create jobs in the short-term and bring down the deficit over the long-term. It asks everyone to pay their fair share, strengthens Medicare and Medicaid for future generations while protecting beneficiaries, and emphasizes the need for immediate job creation. It lays out how the Joint Select Committee can go beyond their mandated deficit reduction requirement, which I believe is essential to getting a handle on our nation’s deficit. I also support the President’s call for tax reform that would help grow the economy and reduce the deficit by lowering rates and closing wasteful loopholes that only benefit the wealthy and special interests.
The patent that led to the telephone was approved in one month. The patent that led to the cell phone, as former White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee recently observed, was approved in three years. Today, patents are held up for even longer -- and jobs and growth are held up with them. At this moment, more than 700,000 patents are caught in the backlog. Could one of those 700,000 new ideas be the next iPhone, the next breakthrough drug, the key to the next great American industry? We'll have to wait a long time to find out.
My friend has been recently quoted; I’m sure, accurately, perhaps, correct me if I’m wrong, in saying that during the first eight months we focused on ‘cut’ of [Republicans’] ‘cut and grow’ [plan], and now we need to focus on ‘grow.’ I would tell my friend, assuming that quote is accurate, that in fact here we are again focused on ‘cut,’ not on ‘grow.’
Today marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to reflect on the history of Latinos in this country and to pay tribute to the contributions they have made in shaping America’s culture and achievements. It is an opportunity for all Americans to celebrate the success of generations of Latinos; from military and public service to business, education and the arts, they have enriched our nation’s heritage.
This week, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction began work on a roadmap to bring down our nation’s deficit and restore our fiscal health. They heard from Doug Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, who reiterated once again what we already know: our nation’s current fiscal position is not sustainable. We also know that the problem we’re facing stems in part from buying things without paying for them, including two wars, tax cuts for the wealthy, and a prescription drug program.
I am pleased that Republicans have agreed to work with us to fund our nation’s critical highways, mass transit, and aviation systems and not place nearly one million jobs at needless risk. However, legislation extending the FAA and Highway bills is in no way a substitute for responsible long-term authorizations of both these measures. Democrats have long advocated for improving our infrastructure in order to help America to compete with the world and create jobs here at home. Investing in infrastructure is a key component of our Make It In America plan.
With President Obama sending the American Jobs Act to Congress on Monday, we here in the Democratic Whip Press Office thought we would take a look back at Congressional Republicans’ words and votes on many of the ideas central to President Obama’s proposal.