GRANHOLM - Levin, Granholm Push Presidential Candidates on Manufacturing

LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today joined U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) in calling on the Democratic presidential candidates to take a stand on the American Manufacturing Initiative (AMI) that they proposed last week along with all of the Democratic members of the Michigan congressional delegation.

"Manufacturing has given tens of millions of Americans a road to the middle class and a shot at the American dream. But today, this part of the American way of life is threatened as millions more manufacturing jobs hang in the balance," Levin and Granholm wrote in an open letter to the candidates. "We look forward to hearing your view in the coming months, both broadly on the importance of manufacturing in America and more specifically on the elements of the AMI."

The AMI is a comprehensive agenda to revitalize our domestic manufacturing industry and respond to the loss of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs. The AMI calls for a robust partnership with government, industry, and academia to level the playing field for domestic manufacturers, and it would take dramatic action on trade, health care, intellectual property, and other issues.

It would invest heavily in developing leap-ahead vehicle and alternative energy technologies that are better for the environment and would help to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while creating American jobs.

In addition to calling on presidential candidates to take positions on the AMI, the Democrats in the congressional delegation will push to enact the provisions into law. The proposal can be viewed at http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=274509.

"The AMI recognizes that our manufacturers aren't just competing with companies abroad - they are competing with entire foreign countries. Other countries aggressively support their manufacturers; so should we," Levin and Granholm wrote.

The letter to Democratic presidential candidates is attached.

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