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Brown Urges Americans to 'Wear American'
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown used a small shop that specializes in selling items and apparel with a Youngstown theme as a backdrop Monday to urge passage of his Wear American Act, a bill that would require that the federal government buy textiles and products from American manufacturers.
"Every time there's tax dollars involved, it ought to be made in the United States of America, period," said Brown, a Democrat from Lorain who is running for re-election in November against Republican challenger Josh Mandel, Ohio's treasurer.
Brown joined Phil Kidd, owner of Youngstown Nation, and Bob Hodge, of Hodge Embroidery and Screenprinting, at Kidd's downtown shop for the press event.
T-shirts sold at Kidd's shop were all manufactured in the United States, Brown noted, and the more items the shop sells, the more incentive producers will have to manufacture products in this country. Lawmakers from across the country, he added, are hearing from their constituents that this is an important issue, and the Wear American Act is a response to these concerns.
The legislation would amend current law that calls for 51% of all textiles and apparel purchased by federal agencies be purchased from American manufacturers.
Instead, Brown's bill would require and that all textile and apparel used by federal agencies be sourced from American manufacturers, but also gives the government flexibility when it comes to items that cannot be sourced domestically.
Youngstown Nation opened about three months ago on North Phelps Street. The store sells books, shirts, memorabilia, postcards and other items relative to Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. "We strive very hard to promote made in the U.S.A. products and also products that are made here in Youngstown. It's an example of what type of manufacturing we can do here and as an added bonus, these things promote community and civic pride," Kidd said.
Kidd said as long as he's operating this store, he'll always use made in the U.S.A. products.
Brown noted that previous attempts to pass such bills have fallen upon deaf ears because many members of Congress are tied to large manufacturing interests that are heavily dependent on sending production overseas to China and then reselling the items in the U.S. market.
"For too long, we've seen American manufacturing jobs -- including textile and apparel jobs -- shipped overseas due to unfair trade that has stacked the deck against the American workers," Brown said. "With our widening trade deficit, we should be doing everything we can to support American manufacturing and job creation."
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.