Commerce Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank Remarks to the Council on Competitiveness Executive Board Thank you. I’m looking forward to our discussion.
As you might know, the Commerce Department, working with the National Economic Council, leads the administration’s efforts across the federal government in manufacturing.
The president himself has been driving home the importance of a strong U.S. manufacturing base. In his State of the Union address, he said that an America Built to Last begins with manufacturing.
Strengthening this sector is essential to our long-term growth. Manufacturing accounts for 90 percent of our patents, 70 percent of private sector R&D, and 60 percent of our exports–including a record $1.3 trillion in goods exported last year.
We have seen strong growth in manufacturing over the past two years. In fact, the manufacturing sector has been leading the recovery.
I want to thank you for your recent report that came out in December, called “Make: An American Manufacturing Movement.” Many of the ideas you presented closely parallel the areas where we are focused.
Let me start by mentioning how the federal government can best support manufacturing. As you all know well, effective private sector leadership is very important…but there are a variety of ‘public goods’ that it is difficult for the private sector to provide and where government involvement is deeply important. For manufacturing this includes: I’d be happy to come back and talk about any of these issues in the discussion. But let me highlight a few of the more recent and innovative things that we’re doing specifically at the Department of Commerce to support manufacturing: This is something that both Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on.
In addition, the president’s FY13 budget reflects a substantial investment in U.S. manufacturing.
The Commerce Department is particularly concerned with these issues, and we want to work in partnership with the private sector to make sure that we make the necessary investments in education, in infrastructure and in innovation that will assure our economic leadership. None of us has all the answers, but working together, we can help create the environment for stronger growth, innovation and competitiveness in U.S. manufacturing.
I welcome your questions, suggestions, and input.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
