Paul Tonko: “Absolutely. Representative Garamendi, thank you. Thank you for leading us again in another very thoughtful hour of…”

“Absolutely. Representative Garamendi, thank you. Thank you for leading us again in another very thoughtful hour of discussion about the importance of deciphering the facts out there that will springboard the comeback--the economic recovery--of this Nation, and it must be done with the deepest and most profound sense of academics. The American public is counting on Congress working with the President to make jobs more abundant in our society. You talked about skills and the development of skills. Recently, during our district work period, I traveled to Schoharie County in my district and saw the benefits of the investment of automation in manufacturing. I was reminded by Wynn Kintz of Kintz Plastics that it's important for us to develop the skills that are required today in manufacturing. He's involved with a CAT center--a center for advanced technology--in the Capital Region. He works with RPI and other institutions. He works with the private sector community in that compact that really puts together the vision and the need, the compact that expresses the need for manufacturing. Now, there are those who would suggest that manufacturing is dead, that we've seen our heyday, that it's over, that it's history. Well, when you talk to America's manufacturers, they will tell you that they need to develop the human infrastructure, that they need today's skills to meet today's competition.…”