Bruce Braley wants national manufacturing strategy

CEDAR RAPIDS - U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Braley wants a national manufacturing strategy to coordinate government investments in science and technology with the innovation of the private sector.

'The European Union has one. China has one. All of our global competitors have one,” the Waterloo Democrat told The Gazette Editorial Board Wednesday.

Although Iowa has long been known for its strong manufacturing economy, Braley said the manufacturing base has deteriorated.

'One reason for that is that we haven't placed a great enough emphasis on training people for good-paying jobs in manufacturing,” the four-term U.S. House member said.

Braley, who is locked in a tight contest with Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, also called for providing greater support for renewables fuel production and a more competitive corporate tax structure.

Iowans historically have done a 'great job in innovation,” Braley said, 'but there is an important middle step between innovation and scaling up to feasible production that we are slipping at.”

While there are 'amazing resources” available to manufacturers, Braley said, they often are a 'a hodgepodge of different thinks tanks, programs like the National Science Foundation and others that, historically, have had a significant impact on our economy.”

A national strategy would provide coordination 'so we can develop the best techniques for combining these government investments in innovation and research with what's happening in the private sector,” he said.

Braley wants to coordinate opportunities 'for us to continue to build things here at home.”

'If we don't, it's a threat to our national security,” he said.

Another threat to national security is American reliance on Mideast fuel, especially given the rise of ISIS, which uses oil sales to finance terrorism.

'That should be a wake up call for Americans to invest in renewable, homegrown energy,” he said.

Braley, who introduced legislation to tighten tax breaks for oil companies, wants the federal government to provide the same sort of incentives to renewable fuel producer as are available to oil and gas companies.

Regardless of the industry, Braley said corporate taxes must become more competitive 'in a global environment.”

'There are a lot of corporations who are avoiding taxes because of the current way the tax code is structured,” he said when asked about repatriation of corporate profits. Current policies promote moving jobs overseas without penalties, he added.

Many of those businesses owe their success to the Internet and federal transportation systems paid and other resources developed through the investment of tax dollars, he said.

That's created the type of economy where those corporations can be successful, he said.

The challenge, he said, is that 'there are a lot of various interest groups with a specific stake in (tax) deductions and credits.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com