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“THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION ACT OF 1997 INTRODUCED” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2022-E2023 on Oct. 21, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION ACT OF 1997 INTRODUCED
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HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, October 21, 1997
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Economic Development Information Act of 1997. This bill establishes and expands an online resource of Government-wide Economic Development Information in the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Background: The Success of the Office of Economic Conversion
Information
Over the last decade, hundreds of defense bases have been realigned and closed and more than 100,000 defense civilians have lost their jobs. Pursuant to the 1995 round of base realignment and closure, additional bases are slated for closure in the next 4 years. To help communities and displaced workers adjust to this defense downsizing, Congress established the Office of Economic Conversion Information
[OECI] in the Economic Development Administration [EDA] in November 1993.
The Office of Economic Conversion Information is an important part of the Federal Government's efforts to share information on defense adjustment and economic development. The OECI serves as a ``one-stop shop'' central clearinghouse for a wide range of users, ranging from individual displaced workers and economic developers to communities facing major base closures and businesses affected by defense downsizing. It helps these groups pick their way through the maze of Federal defense conversion and economic development programs in an easily usable format--a toll free 1-800 phone call, fax, or use of OECI's Internet site--and provides information on how others have responded to defense downsizing. With a database of more than 1,000 files, the OECI is not limited to sources of Federal funding and support. It also includes State and local program descriptions, case studies, guidance manuals, raw economic data, and various publications related to base reuse, worker placement programs, and the commercialization of defense technology. In addition, the OECI has created a new system, the PARCELS Military Base Property Marketing System, to further assist communities impacted by military base closures. This system helps communities create their own Internet home pages to describe and market base closure properties for private investment.
In its almost 4 years of operation, the OECI has responded to more than 143,000 queries. It currently serves approximately 5,000 customers each month. Moreover, the average OECI Internet user is not merely visiting the site, they are using it--the average user downloads 3 to 5 documents. Because of this success, EDA's OECI was awarded the American Economic Development Council's Arthur D. Little Technological Excellence Award in April 1996.
The Economic Development Information Act of 1997
The success of the OECI in assisting workers, communities, and businesses in adjusting to downsizing should not be limited to base reuse and defense conversion. The Economic Development Information Act of 1997 creates the Office of Economic Development Information in EDA--
expanding the OECI to help all economically distressed communities.
Pursuant to this bill, the OEDI will serve as a central information clearinghouse on economic development, economic adjustment, disaster recovery, industrial retention, and defense conversion. In addition, the OEDI could link users to an expanded PARCELS system that would list all Government-owned properties that need economic redevelopment. The bill authorizes such sums as may be necessary to establish the OEDI.
I am hopeful that when the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure considers its bill to reauthorize the programs of the Economic Development Administration and Appalachian Regional Commission later this Congress, this bill will be a part of the chairman's mark.
When a community's top employer shuts down, it doesn't matter to the community or its workers whether that employer is a defense installation or a steel plant. It shouldn't matter to EDA and its information network either. The Office of Economic Development Information provides the resources to ensure that all of our Nation's economically distressed communities have the information necessary to help them create jobs and compete in the global economy.
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