President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Jay Timmons, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Stephen E. Sandherr, commented on yesterday’s results of the country’s midterm elections.
“The manufacturing agenda is a post-partisan agenda, which is why candidates of all backgrounds touted their support for so many of our priorities on the campaign trail,” commented Jay Timmons, President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). “Voters of all parties and of no party want to see a thriving manufacturing industry that supports high-paying jobs for American workers. We will work with anyone who wants to advance that goal.
“We are living in a time of record optimism among manufacturers. That is in large part due to the significant progress we’ve made over the last two years to empower manufacturers with game-changing policy reforms. We will continue that progress with the new Congress. From infrastructure investment to regulatory relief, workforce development to trade policy, there’s plenty to be done, and we know it can be done with support from across the political spectrum.
“Manufacturers will continue to use our unique platform to bring Congress together around the manufacturing agenda and to reunite our country around those four foundational principles that make our nation exceptional: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.”
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in reaction to the fact that Democrats appear to have won control of the U.S. House of Representatives while Republicans will continue to control the U.S. Senate:
“We congratulate all the winners from tonight’s election and look forward to having the opportunity to educate newly elected members about the construction industry’s many contributions to our broader economic prosperity.
“We are eager to work with the new Congress to ensure its members focus on enacting measures that will further contribute to economic growth. Our top priority will be helping both parties come together to enact the kind of significant new infrastructure measures the President has long promised. This is an issue that leaders in both parties have expressed support for and we expect them to make infrastructure a top priority early in the new year.
“We will also work with the next Congress to double, over the next five years, federal investments in career and technical education. Our economy is producing too many underemployed college graduates and too few people with the skills needed to pursue high-paying construction careers. And we will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform that secures our nation’s borders, addresses the undocumented workers already here and establishes a new guest worker visa program for construction.
“Even as we work to promote common-sense, pro-growth measures, we will also aggressively guard against any measures that threaten to undermine the nation’s continued economic growth, including needless new regulatory burdens. Whatever the final lessons to be drawn from tonight’s voting, no one should conclude that the American people thirst for more regulatory red tape that will stifle job creation or undermine economic growth.”
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