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Rubio Joins Colleagues in Introducing Bipartisan Bill to Increase U.S. Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing

May 9, 2019 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced the Global Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing Act, which will promote expansion of the national network of Manufacturing USA institutes and strengthen American manufacturing.

The Manufacturing USA program is a national network of 14 public-private partnership institutes with 1,300-member companies and institutions working to keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing. The institutes have generated $2 billion in industry-matched funding to transition innovative technologies from lab to market and to expand the production of goods made in America.  

The successful Manufacturing USA program is being copied by China, with the “Made in China 2025” plan directly replicating the U.S. institutes. China is making enormous investments in its manufacturing capabilities and has committed to establishing 40 Manufacturing USA-like institutes by 2025. This bill continues U.S. investments to develop new Manufacturing USA institutes and strengthen advanced manufacturing resources for the national network to compete globally and maintain U.S. economic and national security.

This legislation also enables extended federal funding for Delaware’s flagship National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). NIIMBL supports industry-leading research with 115 members from industry, academic institutes, nonprofit organizations, and states. The Delaware-based manufacturing hub connects local manufacturers to national resources to spur local innovation and create new high-skill, high-paying jobs for Delawareans.  

The bill also embeds a liaison of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) in each Manufacturing USA institute to assist with cybersecurity training, workforce development and technology transfer for small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

The bill text can be found here.

The legislation is supported by Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE), American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Association for Advancing Automation, Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), Association of American Universities (AAU), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), Binghamton University, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, Boston Scientific Corporation, Delaware Manufacturing Association, Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership (DEMEP), Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Intelligent Manufacturing Systems International (IMS-I), International Society of Automation (ISA), Mac Arthur Corporation, Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC), National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM), National Tooling & Machining Association, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rockwell Automation, SEMI, State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Delaware.