WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration, hoping to fend off Democratic attacks that it has failed to come to the aid of the country's ailing manufacturing sector, is calling for the creation of a new presidential council to give U.S. companies a greater voice in government decisions.
Creation of the council is one of a number of recommendations detailed in a long-awaited administration report entitled "Manufacturing in America: A Comprehensive Strategy to Address the Challenges to U.S. Manufacturers."
In a reversal of past administration policy, the report calls for increased support for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a network of assistance centers around the country.
A year ago, President Bush proposed phasing out federal support for the program. Under pressure from the White House, Congress reduced funding to $39.6 million this year, down from $106 million in 2003.
The report also calls for the Treasury Department to study how to make tax laws less complex and costly for companies to comply with. And it urges the White House budget office to conduct a government-wide review of regulations with the aim of overhauling those that make U.S. companies less competitive.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans traveled to the Lincoln Electric Co. in Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, to unveil the report in a speech to several hundred plant employees and executives from other manufacturing companies in the Cleveland area.
In his remarks, Evans praised the 108-year-old company, which has become a world leader in manufacturing sophisticated welding machinery.
"This is a company that is built to last," said Evans, who toured the plant before his remarks with Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. Ohio is one of several Rust Belt states that the administration views as crucial states in the presidential race.
"This is our strategy to remove the barriers that are holding back American manufacturers and costing jobs," Evans said of the 88-page report. "This report is a single step in an ongoing process ensuring that American companies are competitive in every part of the world."
Evans also announced Friday that Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas will serve as the point person in the administration on manufacturing issues until Congress acts on a recommendation Bush made last September to create the position of an assistant secretary of manufacturing in the Commerce Department.
The report restates a number of initiatives the administration has already announced. Those include reorganizing the Commerce Department to place more emphasis on penalizing unfair trade practices and promoting U.S. exports.
One new recommendation calls for creation of a President's Manufacturing Council, headed by Evans and including manufacturing executives. The advisory panel would ensure a voice for manufacturers of all sizes in how federal initiatives intended to improve this important economic sector are put in place.
More than 2.8 million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past 3 1/2 years, drawing heavy criticism from Democratic presidential candidates that President Bush has failed to do enough to help the manufacturing sector and deal with soaring trade deficits, which critics blame for the loss of many of the manufacturing jobs.
However, Jerry Jasinowski, head of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he believed the recommendations being put forward, if implemented, would help deal with the higher costs American manufacturers face because of burdensome regulations, excessive litigation, taxes, health care and rising energy costs.
He said American manufacturers carry a cost-burden associated with these areas that is 22 percent higher than America's nine biggest trading partners.
"This report is comprehensive and is a launching point for addressing the domestic and international challenges that have had such a negative impact on U.S. manufacturers and their workers," Jasinowski said.
Many of the recommendations in certain areas, such as making it more difficult to file class-action lawsuits against companies and boosting energy production on federal lands, are Bush suggestions that have failed to make it through Congress because of opposition from such groups as trial lawyers and environmentalists.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said last fall that the reorganization at the Commerce Department was "simply window dressing" aimed at distracting the public from the administration's disastrous trade policies.
The report was being released after a recent series of discussions that Evans' department held around the nation to gather input from manufacturers.
