Date: 2012-09-19
Speaker: BONO MACK (republican)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce. Manufacturing and Trade. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 5910. the Global Investment in American Jobs Act of 2012. This legislation directs the Department of Commerce. in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal departments. to produce an interagency report on enhancing the competitiveness of the United States in attracting foreign and direct investment. This is a commonsense. bipartisan approach to creating new jobs in America. and I would like to thank my colleaguesMr. DOLD. Mr. PETERS. Mr. ROSKAM and Mr. BARROWfor their hard work on this important legislation. I would also like to thank Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman UPTON. Ranking Member WAXMAN. and subcommittee Ranking Member BUTTERFIELD for all agreeing to bring H.R. 5190 to the floor. It has the strong support of leading business groups. including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. the Organization for International Investment. the Association of Global Automakers. and the National Association of Manufacturers. Today. with our economy stuck in a dangerous quagmireand with unemployment still above 8 percent for a record 43 straight monthswe need to take a long. hard look at U.S. laws and policies which serve as barriers to foreign direct investment in our Nation here at home. The goal of the Global Investment in American Jobs Act is to produce a muchneeded "competitiveness assessment report" to Congress. along with a list of recommendations to make the U.S. more appealing to global companies seeking to expand beyond their borders. This legislation comes at a very critical time. The value of crossborder investment has grown dramatically around the world. but America simply isnt cashing in like it once did. Just a decade ago. the U.S. attracted more than 41 percent of all global foreign investment. Today. that number has fallen to 18 percenta steep. costly. and unacceptable decline. In many ways. were being outrecruited by other nations. In a recent global ranking of the worlds most competitive economies. the U.S. slipped from fifth to seventhmarking the fourth straight year in which our Nation has shown a decline. despite having the worlds largest economy. This constant chipping away at Americas ability to compete for foreign investment is contributing to our unacceptably high unemployment rate and adding to our exploding national debt. This legislation is simply one way to fight back. International investment has long served as an engine for U.S. economic prosperity. and it can play an important role in our economic recovery in the years ahead. Today. the U.S. subsidiaries of international companies employ 5.3 million American workers. account for about 15 percent of the countrys manufacturing workforce. produce more than 20 percent of all U.S. goods exported. and fund more than $40 billion of annual research and development activities. These companies also support a diverse supplier network throughout our country. purchasing roughly $2 trillion in annual goods and services that help to sustain thousands of small and mediumsized American companies. The Global Investment in American Jobs Act aims. for the very first time. to identify barriers to new investment and to produce a road map for attracting and retaining toptier businesses from around the world. Strong investment promotion policy will not only spur international companies to create jobs here in the U.S.. but it will also encourage other nations to open their markets to U.S. investment necessary to access foreign markets. Simply put. this legislation sends an important message to the world: today. America is not only open for business. but its also a great place to do business. With that. Mr. Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.