Friday, July 11, 2014YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday that he plans to run for reelection in 2016, but would consider seeking the Republican nomination for president if no one else addresses the economic issues he is concerned with who can win in the general election.
“We’ve got to do something to change the way Washington creates the disincentive right now for competitiveness and growth and instead create an environment for success. If I don’t see other candidates providing that, who I believe can win a general election, I will take a look at it. But right now I’m planning to run for Senate in Ohio,” he told reporters on a conference call Thursday.
Speculation about a potential Portman bid for the GOP presidential nomination was fueled this week by the Republican National Committee’s selection of Cleveland as the host city for the party’s 2016 national convention two years. A Washington Post article highlighted Portman’s role in helping the city secure the convention and suggested that he was “interested in more than just hosting the convention in his home state” and “would like a starring role,” perhaps as the party’s nominee.
Portman, whose campaign spotlighted the article in an email Thursday, downplayed his role in helping Cleveland win the convention, saying it gave him “too much credit.” Although he acknowledged he spoke to members of the selection committee and the GOP national chairman, “The credit goes to the folks who stepped forward and really showed the Republicans that Cleveland was eager, really embraced its convention, [and] really wanted to do it,” he said.
As far as his political future, the first-term senator reiterated the position he put forth in the Post article -- that he intends to seek reelection in two years. “But I also did say that I have a really strong view about the fact that America is in trouble and I think we’re at a pivotal point in our country’s history and we’ve got to make some changes,” he continued. “We’ve still got a long ways to go in terms of providing the kind of economic opportunity that people deserve, and Washington’s part of the problem.”
Since his election in 2010, Portman said he has been passionate not just about reforming the tax code, pursuing regulatory relief and promoting exports and trade, but also about efforts to train workers. “We’ve been able to make some progress here on a bipartisan basis,” he remarked.
Portman said he believes a version of legislation co-sponsored by his fellow Ohio senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, to fund manufacturing hubs modeled on America Makes in Youngstown, will have pay-for provisions that he could support. Portman visited America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, in April.
Brown is working to combine multiple Commerce Department programs and eliminate duplicative ones to create offsets to pay for the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act, said a spokesman for Brown.
The legislation, which Brown co-authored with U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was moved out of the Senate committee. That legislation halved the amount Brown and Blunt sought over 10 years for the network, down to $300 million, and capped the number of centers at 15.
“The success of America Makes is a model that the rest of the country should emulate,” Brown said Thursday. “It would help ensure that the United States continues to be the world’s leading innovator in advanced manufacturing -- with Ohio leading the way. That is why I continue to work on building bipartisan support for my legislation in order for it to see floor time as soon as possible.”
Portman said he hoped the legislation would come before the full Senate before the August recess, but if not then in September or October.
“It’s really high-tech stuff,” he remarked. “I think it’s a good program and I am pleased to say it looks like if it comes to the floor it will be paid for now with a pay-for that I can support. … I don’t want to take us further into debt and deficit whether it’s long-term unemployment, or whether it’s this issue or whether it’s now the highway trust fund. We’ve got to pay for these things. ”
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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