WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) introduced the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013, bipartisan legislation which would establish a Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NMI) to position the United States once again as the global leader in advanced manufacturing. The bill would ensure that the U.S. can out-innovate the rest of the world while creating thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs. Brown and Blunt worked together to pass a bipartisan amendment to the Senate Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 aimed at supporting the creation of a network of manufacturing innovation hubs.
“This is about providing the manufacturing infrastructure in this country to retain our competitive edge. Our bipartisan bill would also ensure that American workers, universities, and large and small manufacturers can out-compete and out-innovate the rest of the world,” Brown said. “We know that manufacturing has strong ripple effects on the rest of our economy and helped build America’s middle class. That is why I am glad to join Senator Blunt in introducing this bill which would create a Network of Manufacturing Innovation. The Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013 would ensure that we don’t cede our American leadership to countries that are racing to get ahead.”
“This bipartisan bill will bring together public and private agencies, businesses, universities, and other organizations to establish a dynamic National Network for Manufacturing Innovation,” Blunt said. “Through this important network of partnerships we can help to accelerate new manufacturing technologies from the research and development phase through the production phase and bolster private sector job creation in America.”
The Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2013 is modeled on the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) in Youngstown, Ohio, a public-private manufacturing hub. Brown’s and Blunt’s legislation is designed to bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies and all levels of government to accelerate manufacturing innovation in technologies with commercial applications. It would establish public-private institutes to leverage resources to bridge the gap between basic research and product development.
The Brown-Blunt Amendment to the Senate Budget FY 2014 was supported by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Association for Manufacturing Technologies (AMT), SEMI North America, US Conference of Mayors, Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, Council on Competitiveness, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), American Society for Engineering Education, United Auto Workers (UAW), Association of American Universities, Semiconductor Industry Association and the American Auto Policy Council, and The Ohio State University.
The Youngstown-based institute is the pilot of NNMI. In August 2012, Brown visited M7 Technologies in Youngstown to announce the $30 million grant from DoD, matched by nearly $40 million in non-Federal funds. The funds helped to establish the new, first-of-its-kind manufacturing institute to specialize in additive manufacturing technology, a type of 3-D printing in which digital models are used to make parts and components.
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