On the recordMay 21, 2013
As a member of the House Democrats' Make It In America Working Group, I was pleased to attend a ceremony yesterday welcoming Longaberger Pottery to Niagara Ceramics Corporation in Buffalo. In 2005, Longaberger moved its production line to China. Its return will create 22 American jobs. Under CEO Tammy Longaberger, this fifth- generation family business manufactures in the true American artisan tradition. This story is further evidence that we are approaching what the writer Charles Fishman calls ``the insourcing boom.'' American companies are reconsidering their decisions to move operations overseas. The issues of rising transportation costs, quality control, and the productivity of American workers is driving this trend. Congress should be working to ensure the new trend becomes a sustainable, large-scale movement. And austerity is exactly the wrong response. We should be investing in our infrastructure, in education, and in science. We should adopt the House Democrats' Make It In America agenda, including legislation that replaces tax breaks for moving jobs overseas with incentives for bringing them home. ____________________
