Subcommittee Examines How to Encourage U.S. Corporations to Invest at Home, Not Abroad

 The Effects of Globalizing Jobs & Technology on the American Economy


(Washington, DC) – As millions of American manufacturing jobs continue to move offshore, evidence is mounting that ever more sophisticated operations, once seen as the potential source of benefits from free trade and globalization, are headed to foreign soil if the rules underlying corporate incentives don’t change.

The focus of a hearing by the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Investigation and Oversight Subcommittee is how to change government incentives so that they encourage companies to keep high-paying manufacturing jobs, as well as research and development jobs in America.

A panel of expert witnesses will suggest innovative incentives such as reducing income tax rates for corporations that retain or create higher-paying jobs in the U.S., making new rules that point corporations in the direction of public purpose rather than exclusively of short-term profits, and examining how the race for short-term gain contributes to off-shoring of American jobs.

“We need to understand how corporations decide where to create jobs,” said Rep. Brad Miller, Chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. “If we’re going to have a prosperous middle class, then our corporations need to have more than just their executive offices here.”

The Subcommittee will also hear testimony from company executives who know first-hand the temptations to move work offshore and will explain why they have chosen to keep their facilities in the United States.  In addition, a U.S. regional development executive will describe how the game of attracting investment has changed amid the strengthening trend to move both production and research abroad. 

What:  Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Hearing, “American Decline or
           Renewal; Globalizing Jobs and Technology”
When:  Thursday, May 22nd, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2318

Expert witnesses testifying:

Panel 1

Dr. Ralph E. Gomory, Research Professor, NYU Stern School of Business, and President Emeritus, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Dr. Margaret M. Blair, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
Dr. Bruce R. Scott, Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Panel 2

Mr. James R. Copland III, Chairman, Copland Fabrics, Burlington, NC
Mr. Joseph C. Fehsenfeld, President, Midwest Printed Circuit Services, Round Lake Beach, IL
Mr. Wes Jurey, President and CEO, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Arlington, TX
Mr. Brian O’Shaughnessy, Director of Coalition for a Prosperous American, and Chairman, Revere Copper Products, Rome, NY

The hearing charter, which will provide detailed background information on the hearing, will be available soon on the Science and Technology Committee website (http://science.house.gov). After the start of the hearing, Members’ opening statements and witness testimony will be posted to the website, which will also have a link to a live webcast.