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
“I’m disappointed that House Republicans still do not have a real, comprehensive jobs agenda that will create the millions of jobs we need to get Americans back to work. Instead they have a list of proposals to end regulations intended to protect consumers and the environment, making their agenda more about partisan ideology than jobs. While it’s important to continually review regulations to ensure they strike the right balance between protecting consumers and allowing businesses to grow, that is not a jobs agenda. Democrats’ have a real jobs agenda: the Make It In America plan to restore economic growth by creating manufacturing jobs and revitalizing American industry and innovation. I hope this Fall Republicans will work with us to move pieces of this plan forward so more families will make it in America.”
Today, Majority Leader Cantor unveiled a more-of-the-same agenda that isn’t a plan to create jobs. In their first eight months in the House majority, Republicans did not put forward a jobs plan and wasted taxpayer money trying to repeal Democratic policies that protect middle class families and seniors. And from what we’ve seen today, Republicans will return to Washington next week without a real plan to create jobs or grow the economy.
I welcome President Obama's nomination of Alan Krueger to be the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. An experienced public servant, Krueger's expertise will help our efforts to grow our economy, create jobs and address the causes of long-term unemployment. I look forward to working with Mr. Krueger and President Obama to create jobs, advance the Democrats' Make It In America plan and help get more Americans back to work.
Wanted to be sure you saw this Washington Post article today highlighting the Republicans’ agenda since taking the House majority eight months ago. You’ll notice the article says little about action they’ve taken to support job creation.
Today’s op-ed by Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor is pretty remarkable for several reasons. First, they’re already taking revenues off the table before the Joint Committee has even begun its work. And second, they’re completely incorrect in suggesting that Democrats agree that we should tackle entitlement reform while leaving revenues off the table:
While Republicans have not put forward a comprehensive jobs agenda after eight months in the majority, Democrats are focused on supporting job creation through the Make It In America plan – a plan to promote job creation by providing an environment for businesses to innovate and make products here in the U.S., which will help more families Make It In America.
Today, the Obama Administration announced that it is taking steps to reform No Child Left Behind – a flawed law that is long overdue for reauthorization. Education is critical to our nation’s economic success, which is why the Democrats’ Make It In America agenda prioritizes investments in key areas like education. This plan aims to ensure that our nation has a workforce prepared to succeed in the global economy and that our schools have the resources they need to help our children achieve those goals. This includes maintaining accountability measures to make sure students are truly ready for college and high-paying careers with opportunity for growth; attracting the best and the brightest to the teaching profession, and compensating them appropriately; and providing schools with the tools to help them succeed. Our future as a nation depends on it.
Last week Republicans returned to their districts and were “shocked” to hear that job creation was the dominant issue constituents wanted to discuss. Since taking the House majority, Republicans have said that job creation would be a top priority. Unfortunately they’ve taken little action on jobs.
Each July 4, we celebrate our nation’s independence and again take pride in America’s history. This pride comes from knowing that the courage, determination and hard work of generations of Americans before us — many of whom fought and died to preserve our liberty — made our country what it is today.
Today, the interest rate on subsidized student loans will be cut to 3.4% – the last of four steps under the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Enacted under a Democratic-led Congress, this law has cut the interest rate on subsidized student loans in half – from 6.8% to 3.4% over four years. This law was a key part of Democrats’ agenda to make college more affordable and accessible for millions of American students and their families. Due to these cuts, the average student borrower who started college in 2008 will have saved $2,570 over the life of their loan.