By: Michele Nash-Hoff, Can American Manufacturing Be Saved In the past three years, one business or government leader after another has proposed developing a national manufacturing strategy. For example, the Information Technology& Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released a report, “The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy,” in April 2011 that builds the intellectual case for why the United States needs a serious national manufacturing strategy. The Alliance for American Manufacturing is a strong proponent of a national manufacturing strategy, and has repeatedly put forward a “Plan to Save Manufacturing,” calling for a national manufacturing strategy to reverse the decline in U.S. manufacturing and the good jobs that come with it. A bill to set up a process to develop a national manufacturing strategy even passed the House of Representatives in 2010 by a vote of 379 to 38, but died in the Senate. Now, a new bill, “The American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act” (HR-5865), co-sponsored by Illinois Reps. Dan Lipinski (D) and Adam Kinzinger (R), passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee on June 20, 2012 and was sent to the House as a whole for consideration. It is great to hear issues concerning U. S. manufacturing being discussed at this level, but it’s time to stop talking about developing a national manufacturing strategy and just do it. There is no assurance that this bill will not suffer the same fate as the similar 2010 bill because just 29% of all House bills reported favorably by committee in 2009–2010 were enacted. Four Democrats and six Republican signed on as co-sponsors of the bill while it was being considered in committee, and four Democrats and two Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors since then for a total of 18 co-sponsors. It will take many more Republican sponsors to ensure that it is brought to a full vote of the House this fall. The bill summary states, “H.R. 5865 would establish the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Board within the Department of Commerce to advise the President on issues affecting manufacturing in the United States. The board would be required to perform a comprehensive analysis of the nation’s manufacturing sector and, using results from the analysis, develop a strategy to...