As the Senate Judiciary Committee continues to work through debate on S. 744, The NAM, leading a coalition of national and state organizations, sent a letter to Capitol Hill articulating the strong support for provisions in the bill that would deliver significant reforms to the high-skilled immigration program as part of a comprehensive solution.

As the letter notes, “Skilled immigration reform is long overdue. The U.S. economy is struggling to reach its full potential in large part because the demand for highly skilled professionals exceeds the supply; a knowledge gap which will only continue to grow… However, as with any ambitious legislation that would create a new set of requirements for U.S. employers, it is essential to closely examine the new mechanisms proposed for the H-1b and L-1 visa programs and ensure that unintended consequences are anticipated and avoided. Essentially, it should enable U.S. employers to use these visa programs to complement and grow their permanent U.S. workforce, maximizing business and investment activity in the U.S.”

While the NAM and the other organizations are pleased with the initial framework of the bill and have lauded the Gang of 8′s effort to lead on such a critical issue, we are aware that it is not perfect and that improvements are needed. A few specific areas of interest were pointed out, including recruitment, non-displacement and the H-1b Cap Escalator to ensure that comprehensive immigration reform does not interfere with necessary business decisions and that new laws will keep up with the economic times and demand.

Manufacturers are committed to seeing immigration reform through and look forward to working with policymakers to ensure that this landmark bill accomplishes what all interested parties have set out to do – implement a comprehensive solution that provides the workforce manufacturers in the U.S. need to compete and succeed.

President Obama took his “Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour” to Texas today and toured NAM member Applied Materials in Austin to see one of its semiconductor manufacturing lines and deliver remarks on making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. Applied Materials is the world’s largest maker of chip manufacturing equipment — building the advanced machines that create computer chips for the products that power our lives.

Applied Materials has some of the most cutting edge, high tech facilities in the world – a perfect location for the President to talk about making the United States the best place in the world for advanced manufacturing. perform the precise steps that turn silicon wafers into advanced integrated circuits.

Comprehensive immigration reform and STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) are critical to manufacturers – to address a skills gap that has left 600,000 jobs vacant and to build a 21st century workforce that manufacturers in the U.S. need to compete and succeed in the global economy.

Caterpillar is doing its part in spreading that message, sending its Chief Technology Officer, Gwenne Henricks, to Capitol Hill today to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Ms. Henricks told the committee that our education system simply isn’t producing the necessary pipeline of STEM graduates manufacturers need to meet workforce needs – and a solution through immigration reform is badly needed.

“At Caterpillar, we know our people are our greatest asset. We employ more than 10,000 engineers, technologists and scientists worldwide who are dedicated to developing technologies that reshape the process of using, managing and owning heavy equipment. Last year, we filed for nearly 1,100 patents and spent approximately $2.4 billion on research and development. We need a solution that will address these issues and help us grow a sustainable pipeline of highly skilled workers to meet our growing needs while preserving the environment for future generations through innovation and collaboration,” said Henricks.

Getting comprehensive immigration reform enacted into law won’t be easy – if it was, it would already be done. The way we’re going to get the ball across the goal line here is by making sure that policymakers truly understand how essential reform is to the health of manufacturing and our economy as a whole. Big kudos to Caterpillar for taking such a leadership role in getting that message out there.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit announced its ruling in a case the NAM filed with regard to posting notices in the workplace. The legal questions raised by the Board issuing a rule proactively regulating virtually every employer in the country are unique in some ways and very simple in others.

During oral argument before the Court of Appeals, one judge asked the attorney representing the Board a basic question. What, if any, limits are there on the NLRB’s authority? The attorney quickly – and shockingly – responded that in the Board’s view there are no limits to their power. Yesterday, the Court issued a strong rebuke to that line of thinking and highlighted the shaky ground the NLRB is on with regard to its agenda.

In the four-page concurring opinion, Judges Henderson and Brown stated: “And the Congress, in enacting the NLRA, prescribed that the Board use reactive means to enforce its policies – namely, through an unfair labor practice proceeding initiated by a charging party or by resolving representations and election issues when so petitioned by a party.” (Emphasis in original) In concluding the concurring opinion, Judge Henderson wrote, “In sum, given the Act’s language and structure are manifestly remedial, I do not believe Congress intended to authorize a regulation so aggressively prophylactic as the posting rule.”

The NAM agrees, which is why the lawsuit was filed. The ruling and concurring opinion released yesterday were spot on – and now the Board has been put on the spot. Do they double-down and petition the Supreme Court or do they finally acknowledge there are limits to the power they wield?

Dorothy Coleman, the NAM’s Vice President of Tax and Domestic Economic Policy, brought manufacturers’ support of pro-growth tax reform to a panel discussion, hosted by Politico today, which featured a variety of policy officials in Washington, D.C. talking about the impact of tax policy in the energy sector.

As consumers of one-third of our nation’s energy, manufacturers have a lot at stake when it comes to tax and energy policy. The conversation touched on a wide variety of topics but it was clear that a need for pro-growth tax policy that doesn’t pick winners and losers is a fundamental aspect of reforms. We want to ensure that the U.S. is the best place in the world to manufacture and raising taxes on energy companies, who require massive capital investment to develop resources, will only undermine that goal.

Some of the panelists suggested the implementation of a carbon tax as potential reform, but Mrs. Coleman quickly refuted those calls, saying that the revenue gains were far outweighed by the economic devastation that would ensue – loss of jobs, wages, higher prices and a less competitive America.

Panel discussions like the one held today help shape the way tax reform is done – and just like today, the NAM will remain at the center of the conversation.

Today was a big win for manufacturers in the House of Representatives. In recent years, cybersecurity has become more and more of a focus for manufacturers who operate networks featuring comprehensive and collaborative networks between customers, vendors, suppliers and governments. As the threat of online attacks grows, manufacturers have implemented the most complete security possible to protect those networks – but current law doesn’t offer the full protection manufacturers need. But with today’s passage of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) of 2013 (H.R. 624) we’re a lot closer.

“Manufacturers take any intrusion seriously, but the problem is that we can’t get any information from the government about what those threats are,” said NAM Director of Technology and Domestic Economic Policy Brian Raymond. “CISPA fixes the problem by creating a stronger partnership among the Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community and manufacturers, allowing them to collaborate when credible threats arise.”

Marlin Steel, led by President Drew Greenblatt, an NAM executive committee member, takes a strong stance against cyber crime, noting, “if greater information-sharing can help find and prosecute someone using the Internet to commit a crime, it is a line worth shifting.”

The House voted 288-127 to pass the bill – with significant and widespread bipartisan support. Support for CISPA is strong and growing. Which makes the President’s threat of a veto perplexing at best. This is a solution that delivers the necessary protections and information sharing without adding duplicative regulations that fail to improve security. CISPA will allow manufacturers to take an increasingly proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to threats.

As the NAM Technology Subcommittee Chair, Eric Fitzgerald Reed, said, “Cybersecurity will play a significant role in defining the future of the Internet and business in the 21st century, so it is natural that the manufacturing and high-tech communities strongly support the CISPA legislation.”

It’s time for the Senate and the President to take the baton and put into law the protections that manufacturers need to counter the growing cyber threats in an online world.

House Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) normally wields the gavel during House committee hearings, but today brought an unusual role for him – witness. Chairman Camp appeared before the House Small Business Committee to talk about the impact of tax reform on small businesses. With two-thirds of manufacturers paying taxes at the individual rate, the NAM was rather interested in what Mr. Camp had to say.

As you might expect from his record as Chairman, Camp had a lot of positive things to say about the important role small business plays in job creation and economic growth. All true statements, but what caught our attention was his commentary on how small to medium sized manufacturers will be adversely affected without comprehensive reforms. Manufacturers have been telling policymakers for a long time that without a simpler, fairer code that reduces the tax burden, we’re going to see any growth come to a grinding halt. Money sent to Washington is money that cannot be put into hiring workers, expanding production and growing their operations.

Clearly Chairman Camp gets manufacturers’ message and we appreciate his continuous efforts to move forward with comprehensive tax reform. The question is – how many other policy makers truly understand the economic boom that would be unleashed if they put a pro-growth tax system into action?

President Obama’s FY2014 budget was released this morning, and it includes some mixed messages on trade. Perhaps most significantly, the budget proposal includes a plan to reorganize – and consolidate – the government’s trade functions. As outlined in the FY2014 budget proposal, the President would like to consolidate six primary business and trade agencies into a new Department. The new Department would include the Commerce Department’s core business and trade functions, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. It would also incorporate related programs from a number of other departments, including the Agriculture Department’s business development programs, the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund program, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) statistical agency and industry partnership programs, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The President outlined a similar proposal in his 2012 State of the Union address, with a resoundingly negative reaction from the business community. In response to that plan, the NAM joined more than 80 other business groups in a letter arguing that subsuming USTR into a broader trade and business government department would severely harm its credibility and hamper USTR’s ability to play its unique coordinating role within the U.S. government. USTR is statutorily responsible for developing and coordinating U.S. international trade and direct investment policy as well as overseeing negotiations with other countries. The head of USTR is the U.S. Trade Representative, a Cabinet member who serves as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues. The NAM continues to be troubled by this reorganization proposal, given the importance of trade to manufacturers in the United States.

In looking at the budget proposals for specific departments, the budget proposal would provide additional resources for trade promotion initiatives and agencies. The Commerce Department budget overview includes an increase for the International Trade Administration (ITA), with a proposed a budget of $520 – or a 14 percent increase over the 2012 enacted level. ITA helps promote U.S. trade and investment and also ensures fair trade through rigorous enforcement of trade laws and agreements. The agency is home to the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, which promotes U.S. exports and provides commercial diplomacy support for U.S. business interests around the world.

The Commerce Department’s budget proposal also supports the President’s Export Control Reform Initiative, with $112 million for the Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) to help sustain export licensing and enforcement activities while moving toward a more predictable, efficient and transparent export control system. The proposal would give BIS an $11 million increase from the 2012 enacted level.

The State Department’s budget proposal includes $307 million for the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, USTR, U.S. International Trade Commission and OPIC – a combined $46 million increase over the 2012 enacted level. The President’s budget proposal also includes $131 million for the Ex-Im Bank’s administrative expenses and Inspector General, a $37 million increase over the 2012 enacted level.

Manufacturers understand and support the need for regulation – smart regulation. Smart regulation establishes the rules we all must follow and promotes better business practices. Too often lately, the Department of Labor is emblematic of the government agency clumsily encroaching on day-to-day operations, burdening manufacturers with higher business costs, unrealistic compliance demands and unnecessary regulations.

Forbes has a recent article that discusses an example of such overreach, discussing the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) recent efforts. As the article notes, under the right guidance, the OFCCP can be a tool for good. We agree, but therein lies the rub – if recent enforcement trends are considered the norm, it may be wishful thinking that the right guidance will magically appear.

Here at the NAM we are maintaining a watchful eye, urging smart regulations rather than the implementation of an agenda that predetermines who is in compliance and who is not. We’re hoping for the best, but as we have shown in the past, the NAM is ready to confront federal agencies that oversimplify, overstep and overreach.

Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL) held a manufacturing roundtable today in Chicago, hosting over 40 CEOs, and local business owners, to discuss tax reform and the best methods to enact a tax system that will allow manufacturers in the U.S. to compete on a global scale. Congressman Roskam is a member of the Ways & Means Committee and a co-chair of the Manufacturing Working Group formulated to develop recommendations as Congress begins work on comprehensive tax reform.

Manufacturers in the U.S. face a 20% cost disadvantage compared to our global competitors. The current tax system plays a major role in that disparity and, frankly, it makes us less competitive as a nation. The NAM will be submitting comments to the tax reform working groups in the near future to help ensure that manufacturers voice is heard as the process continues.

NAM members such as Boeing, Devon Corporation, Case New Holland, Inc. and others joined the Congressman at the event – spreading the message that manufacturers need tax reform on both the corporate and individual rates. Two-thirds of all manufacturers pay taxes as S-Corps.

Events like these are an excellent opportunity for manufacturers to share our priorities and we certainly appreciate Congressman Roskam’s focus on policies that will lead to a true manufacturing resurgence.