Peters’ Bills to Strengthen Manufacturing Advance in Senate

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has advanced bills introduced by Senator Gary Peters (MI) to reactivate the Manufacturing Advisory Council and establish a one-stop hub website to help connect manufacturers with federal resources. The legislation will now head to the Senate floor. 

“For too long, the federal government has not taken a national approach to manufacturing, which has put our country at a global competitive disadvantage,” said Senator Peters, who is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. “These bills will improve coordination among federal agencies and make resources more readily available to manufacturers in Michigan and across the country as they work to recover from this pandemic. I’m hopeful that the Senate will pass this legislation soon, and I will continue working to make manufacturing a national priority.”

The National Manufacturing Advisory Council for the 21st Century Act, which Peters introduced with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), would revive and elevate the National Manufacturing Advisory Council, which advises the federal government on manufacturing program and provides private sector guidance and insight to the federal government. The Council has met intermittently in recent years, and this bill would more formally establish the Council as a critical component in federal manufacturing policy and strategy.

The Manufacturing.gov Act, which Peters introduced with U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Senator Rubio, codifies into law a manufacturing.gov hub, which would serve as a one-stop hub to connect manufacturers with federal manufacturing programs. The legislation would require the Department of Commerce to utilize artificial intelligence to further enable the website to answer questions from manufacturers and to receive feedback from manufacturers about their needs.

Peters introduced both pieces of legislation earlier this year after hearing repeatedly from manufacturers about the need for a unified national strategy on manufacturing to boost our manufacturers and enable them to keep pace with competitors in other countries.

Peters has worked to strengthen manufacturing and support workers, including during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. He and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo have discussed shared priorities on domestic manufacturing and has held conversations with Biden Administration officials on the need to address the semiconductor shortage currently impacting the American auto industry. At a hearing last year before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Peters questioned witnesses about a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, which concluded that it is unclear how much the federal government spends on manufacturing programs because there are 58 federal programs spread across 11 different departments and agencies—without definitive accounting of the support for U.S. manufacturing. 

In April, Peters reintroduced legislation to establish a National Institute of Manufacturing. It would align and empower manufacturing throughout the Department of Commerce, creating a single manufacturing institute to house federal manufacturing programs. He will keep working to build support for and advance this legislation.

Peters also helped introduce the Make It in America Act to make it harder for federal agencies to use waivers to get around Buy American requirements, requiring the federal government to give preference to American companies and spend taxpayer dollars on American-made products and American jobs. Last year, Peters helped introduce the End Outsourcing Act, which would reform the tax code to reward businesses that bring jobs back from foreign countries.

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