Brown Delivers Keynote Address on Vision for New Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) delivered the keynote this afternoon at a conference hosted by the Institute for America’s Future and the Alliance for American Manufacturing. At the event, Brown cited clean energy production and development as a key to rebuilding the U.S. economy and creating new jobs.

"Manufacturing created a middle class that strengthened our communities, and led to a nation of innovators and builders,” Brown said. “Clean energy manufacturing will help rebuild our nation’s middle class by utilizing our skilled labor force to build next-generation technologies. We owe it to the future of our economy and our global competiveness to invest in a national manufacturing strategy that promotes new jobs and industries.”

Brown was joined by Congressional colleagues, economists, and progressive and labor leaders at the day-long meeting dedicated to developing new strategies to rebuild the U.S. economy. At the event, Brown emphasized the critical link between leadership in clean energy manufacturing and job creation.
Brown highlighted legislation he pioneered in Congress to build a new foundation for the U.S. economy through clean energy manufacturing. He cited an initiative he authored earlier this year, the Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act of 2009, which would establish a $30 billion Manufacturing Revolving Loan Fund to help small and medium sized manufacturers retool. Since its introduction, Brown’s IMPACT Act received support from more than 2,000 manufacturers and businesses including National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The IMPACT Act was included in the House-passed climate change bill.

Brown also underscored the critical demand to establish a strong manufacturing policy that rewards manufacturing innovation, connects skilled workers with emerging, sector-based industries, and promotes fair trade. As chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Brown has held a series of hearings to ensure U.S. global competitiveness and to rebuild the nation’s middle class. Brown’s most recent hearing entitled, “Restoring Credit to Manufacturers,” featured expert testimony from the manufacturing and banking sectors to investigate ways to reverse the credit crisis U.S. manufacturers currently face.

Brown is a leading advocate in Congress for developing clean energy initiatives to strengthen Ohio and our nation’s manufacturing sector and create jobs. Brown has held nearly 140 roundtables across Ohio, meeting with workers and business leaders about how to position Ohio as a leader in the clean energy economy. Over the past year, Brown held three groundbreaking clean energy summits in Ohio, connecting business leaders, manufacturers, and farmers with federal energy officials. In April, Brown introduced The Restoring America's Manufacturing Leadership through Energy Efficiency Act of 2009. The bill would create a financing mechanism for businesses that want to adopt new energy efficient technologies to cut costs, save and create jobs, and improve competitiveness.

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