would say, is deteriorating by the minute as news and evidence of such widespread killing is felt over the country. >> and the death toll now in excess of 9,000 individuals? >> some say even 11,000. >> we're talking with marwa marwamarwan marwan muasher, a fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. what do you think will happen next? >> i do not see the regime surviving. i think that it has lost all credibility, all legitimacy, particularly in the region, in addition to losing, you know, wide support in syria itself. no regime that, you know, has killed all these many people will be allowed in my view to survive. the question is when and how. this is not going to be quick or easy. what will give is still not clear whether it will be an

inside operation within syria, whether it is the russians or the chinese changing their mind or whether it is the international community changing its mind as well. but i don't see the status quo being able to sustain itself over the next few months. >> the work of our guest, marwan muasher is available online at carnegie endowment.org. this is c-span radio. "washington today." >> we'll continue the conversation tomorrow morning on the "washington journal." ken will be joining us from "the l.a. times." the national security correspondent to talk about the very latest in to the investigation. we heard from ed o'keefe of the "washington post" that more firings or resignations expected within the secret service. and our friday roundtable looking at jobs, the economy, wages and unions. philip doyle is with the bureau of labor statistics and jodi schneider. just some of our guests and topics tomorrow morning on the "washington journal" heard live here on c-span radio and a

reminder, check out all of our programming online any time at c-span.org. thanks for joining us on this thursday. i hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. in a few moments, a hearing on manufacturing and jobs with testimony from commerce secretary john bryson. in two hours, steve forbes, the president and ceo of "forbes" talks about the economy and the tax code. after that, a hearing looking into a general services administration conference in las vegas. when i was embedded in eastern afghanistan, the soldiers started telling me that the u.s. government was wasting tens of billions of dollars on totally mismanaged development and logistics contracts. >> in funding the enemy, douglas wissing follows the money in afghanistan and finds corruption from top to bottom, right into the hands of the taliban.

>> i was in one meeting where the brigade command ir, an incredibly effective guy named colonel mike howard, this is not long after president obama took office, and the state department was out there saying, okay. we're going to give you a whole bunch of development money. it's counterinsurgency. we're going to do this. win their hearts and minds. nation build. and colonel howard said, don't send any more money. send me contract officers that can oversee this stuff. i need people. i don't need more money. >> douglas wissing on bankrolling the enemy, sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's q&a. and on may 6th, look for robert caro, "the passage of power" in the years of lyndon johnson. his biography of the 36th president. from the colonial era, prohibition to today, drinking for better or worse has always

been a part of the american landscape. saturday night, live on "american history tv," a history of alcohol in america. watch our simultaneous cast of back story with the american history guys. host ed airs and brian regale with tales of beer and spirits in america saturday night at 8:00 eastern, part of american history tv this weekend on c-spa c-span3. next a hearing on u.s. manufacturing and jobs. a house energy and commerce subcommittee heard from commerce secretary john bryson and representatives of the private sector and labor. this is two hours. if the subcommittee could please come to order.

good morning. when it comes to the future of manufacturing in the united states, will this be a nation where help wanted signs hang on factory gates or close for business signs. today our subcommittee will tackle a critically important subject, can american manufacturing thrive again? the future of our economy could well be at stake. and the chair now recognizes herself for an opening statement. throughout our nation's long history, a growing and robust manufacturing sector has helped to make america great. it's been a driving force in our economy since the industrial revolution as generations of hard-working americans, armed with machines, tools and a determined work ethic cranked out everything from airplanes to toasters. but as our nation has moved from the atomic age to the space age to the information age, manufacturing has not kept up. losing nearly 6 million american jobs since the beginning of the 21st century. aging, rusting and abandoned

factories litter the u.s. landscape. today we stand at an important crossroads. one direction lined by job-killing regulatory hurdles, a punitive tax code and indecisive political leadership will lead ultimately to a further erosion of our manufacturing base and lost prosperity for future generations of americans. the other direction where smart policies and smart minds eventually intersect could lead instead to a resurgence in u.s. manufacturing putting millions of americans back to work again and breathing new life into the beleaguered middle class. secretary bryson is chairman of the subcommittee, i look forward to working closely with you on this very important issue. let's make made in america matter again. let's throw the start switch right now and let's get the widgets moving. clearly we don't have any time to waste. statistics show the manufacturing sector was the hardest hit in terms of job losses during the great recession. while manufacturing accounts for just one-tenth of our nation's

jobs, manufacturing suffered a third of our nation's job losses. what's more, in 2009, for the first time ever, the number of unemployed americans exceeded the num befbers of americans employed in the manufacturing sector. a fact that remains true today despite a slight uptick in recent hiring. so what happened. the u.s. was the undisputed leader in manufacturing for decades with the world's largest manufacturing economy producing nearly a quarter of all globally manufactured products. but that leadership is now in serious jeopardy sow sew it's vitally important to consider what is at stake for our nation. according to a report by the national association of manufacturers, american manufacturing supports nearly 1 in 6 u.s. jobs which pay, on average, over $75,000 with benefits. additionally, manufacturing jobs have the highest multiplier in the u.s. economy. every dollar in direct spending produces 1$.35 in additional

indirect output. conversely, every manufacturing job eliminated in america results in the loss of two other jobs elsewhere in the economy. so as policymakers we are facing several critically important questions. first, what is the true state of the manufacturing sector today? second, what factors are impeding a comeback. and finally and most importantly, what policies could aid the manufacturing sector's recovery? here's the good news. historically, manufacturing is the hardest hit during a recession, but the quickest to recover due to pent-up demand for goods. recent numbers from the bureau of labor statistics provide a glimmer of hope that the u.s. manufacturing sector may indeed be rebounding. last year for the second consecutive year, american manufacturers actually added jobs. prior to that, the manufacturing sector had suffered job losses every year since 1997. what's more, according to a recent report by the boston consulting group, rising wages in china, the rising cost of energy and real estate in china

and the rising cost of transporting goods back to america for consumption are beginning to make the united states a much more attractive option once again for many manufacturers. but still other observers see a real cause for concern buried within the recovery numbers. overall, the u.s. lost 5.7 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, a rate of decline that exceeded even the great depression, according to a study by the information technology and innovation foundation. compounding this problem is a very sobering fact. the u.s. lost a staggering 66,000 manufacturing firms and average of 17 per day over the same period. at the current rate of recovery, itif estimates the manufacturing sector would not return to 2007 job levels until at least 2020. there are other factors contributing to this slow rate of recovery as well. in its 2009 report, facts about modern manufacturing, the national association of manufacturers identifies external policy rated costs such

as a persistently high corporate tax rate, the high cost of health care, the rising cost of energy, regulatory costs and tort costs as serious barriers to manufacturing. simply put, there's a prevailing sense among many people that the u.s. is falling even further behind in fostering an environment conducive to job creation. when it comes to u.s. manufacturing, is the glass mafl full, half empty or will it remain shattered on the kitchen floor for millions of out of work americans. mr. secretary, let's working to the sweep up the glass and then set the table for a manufacturing comeback. i continue to believe without a doubt in the greatness of america and made in america should continue to be a shared pride for all of us. and with that, i now recognize the ranking member of our subcommittee and want to in advance wish him a happy 65th birthday, which we will be celebrating next week. so mr. butterfield, your recognized for five minutes for your opening statement. >> let me thank you, chairman

bono mack and i thank you for those kind words in wishing me a good birthday next week. wife been looking ford it for a long time and it's finally come. let me thank the witnesses for their anticipated testimonies today. we know the schedule is kind of disjointed this morning, but thank you so much for your patience. madam chairman, there is no more important issue to working americans than the ability to get and keep a job. provide for their families and ensure that when their children grow up, they, too, can succeed. the causes of the most recent recession are many. they are indeed complex while the solutions can also be complex, one thing is certain. the creation of jobs benefits the entire economy and recent monthly employment reports we've begun to see the fruits of that labor. over the past two years the manufacturing sector has added more than 450,000 jobs. not since the clinton administration has the sector

seen such fast growth. in a one-year period from january of 2010 to january of 2011, immediately after the worst of the recession, the manufacturing sector added 47,000 machinery manufacturing jobs. 74,000 jobs and fabricated metal manufacturing and 24,000 in computer and electronic manufacturing jobs. my state of north carolina is the fifth largest manufacturing stitt in the country. and the large nest the southeast. it provides about $80 billion to our gdp or 19.5% of the total. the nearly 11,000 manufacturing companies employ almost 15% of the total work force equating to well over 5,000 jobs that pay $65,000 annually on average. many of these jobs are in

advance manufacturing and produce high-tech goods used in the defense industry. telephonics is a defense and homeland security contractor located in elizabeth city. telephonics designs and manufactures sensors and communications equipment and tests and integrates these systems into u.s. military and department of homeland security aircraft. dsm also located in my congressional district in greenville, north carolina, produces all of the revolutionary fiber that is the key compone ment the new enhanced combat helmet which will better protect our service members in the marine corps and army without increasing the weight of their helmets. aar, locates in goldsboro, mechanic income, designs and manufactures a wide range of machines and composite structures for aerospace and defense applications. there's also the north carolina biotechnology center.

this was created out of necessity as traditional industries like textile and furniture manufacturing began to disappear. the center is the most experienced organization of its kind in the world. and works to promote the cultivation and development of biotechnology applications throughout north carolina whether they are take plags for medical, agricultural or energy purposes. they join us today. i hope i can be here when we have the testimony of the witness. i'm going to have to leave shortly but hopefully i can be around for his testimony. it is clear that american manufacturing is prime for a renaissance and south democrats make it an america agenda. provide better opportunities for success through key policy initiatives. several make it an america initiatives have already become law, including bills that cut taxes and create loans for small businesses, sped up the patent process, lowered costs of

materials and reduced tax loopholes. the house also passed making an america legislation to support american clean energy firms, invest in job training partnerships and hold china accountable for the unfair currency manipulation that cost american jobs. when more products are made in america, more families, too, can make it in america. and so i look forward to the testimony today and thank each of the witnesses for being here and being so gracious with your time. i will submit my entire written statement for the record. thank you. i yield back. >> thank you, mr. butterfield. and now we have several members on our side who wish to make an opening statement in a total of five minutes. so i urge them to keep their remarks as brief as possible, and i will yield the five minutes to mr. stearns who will then yield accordingly. >> thank you, madam chair. this is the third hearing we have had on this subcommittee on jobs, and it's, of course, concern for all of us.

and what we're also concerned about is a high tax rate in america. i think just simply low the corporate tax code in prioritizing the need for a skilled workforce would help. other factors like the high cost of health care costs are going to impact this country. and rising energy prices. so we need to have a full energy program. and furthermore, we know that legitimate u.s. companies are losing jobs as they are forced to compete with offshore companies that steal american technologies. having the ftc, the federal trade commission, use its narrow, section 5 authority to bring targeted cases against these offshore companies will simply demonstrate that access to u.s. markets will not be permitted to companies whose business mod cell based on theft. these are things we can all work together on to strengthen our economy and i look forward to our hearing. with that, i recognize dr. cassidy. >> thank you. clearly our problem in our economy right now is unemployment. and we know that that unemployment is disproportionately focused upon

blue collar workers. those workers have traditionally been employed in mining, manufacturing and construction. now i think we're all encouraged that the renaissance in mining in north american energy assets, fossil fuel in particular, have led to a renaissance in manufacturing as recently discussed in "the new york times," cnn money and elsewhere. this is fantastic. if we take it as a moral imperative to increase blue collar prosperity, then i almost see it as a primary variable we should take it as a moral imperative to develop our domestic energy resources. my concern is that much of what has happened has happened despite federal efforts. which had been actively inhibitory bringing those domestically or north american resources to the benefit of our blue collar workers. so, mr. secretary, i thank you for being here. i look forward to the discussion and ask you specifically to address really what appears to be an hostility towards fossil fuels which inevitably will

raise input costs which will put a damper on this renaissance and blue collar in manufacturing. i now yield to mr. kinsinger. >> thank you. and thank you for coming and joining us. i want to thank the administration for the enactment of the colombia free trade agreement which was very important. i'm concerned, mr. secretary, with the state of our economy and the state of u.s. manufacturing as well. the march manufacturing output index slipped to 0.2% from 0.8% which is a dangerous sign in my mind, that our economy is slowing due to high cost of transportation. it's clear when i'm home in illinois that what manufacturers are asking of the federal government, they want a fair and competitive tax code. they want less intrusion from federal agencies and they want a sound supply of affordable energy. they simply want a level playing field to be able to compete with other countries overseas. i hope that you'll be able to discuss some of the work you're doing to make america competitive again. and with that, i guess i will

yield back. >> i thank the gentlemen. and now we'll turn our attention to the panels. we have two panels of witnesses joining us today. each of our witnesses has prepared an opening statement that will be placed into the record. on our first panel we have the honorable john bryson, secretary for the united states department of commerce. good morning, secretary bryson. it has always been a pleasure to work with you as a fellow californian. we've had a long history together. i welcome you to our subcommittee and i'm very thankful that you're here. we look forward to work with you closely on this and many other important issues. you'll be recognized for five minutes to help you keep track of time, the timer is right in front of you. when it turns yellow you'll have one minute to try to sum up if you could. please remember to turn the microphone on and bring it close to your mouth so the audience at home can hear your remarks. and with us again, welcome, mr. secretary. you are recognized for five minutes.

>> -- working with you here on this and -- can you hear? >> especially if you are complimenting the chairman it's nice to have the microphone very close to your mouth. >> pull it closer. pull the whole thing closer. >> how is that? >> much better. thank you. >> all right. so i said -- thank you to the chairwoman and now to the ranking member butterfield and to all of you, the members of this subcommittee. we thank you for your support for the incredibly diverse array of manufacturers in your districts and throughout the united states. today i am pleased to provide an overview of the administration's efforts to support manufacturing. after a decade in which we lost 6 million manufacturing jobs.

as you know, and some of you touched on this, we are now seeing positive momentum in u.s. manufacturing. over the past 25 months, our manufacturers have created nearly 500,000 jobs. so that is the best streak in the united states since 1995. and 120,000 of those came just in the last three months. last week i traveled widely visiting manufactures. last week i saw this firsthappenfirsthand in tennessee. for example, i saw there a new just constructed 1 million square-foot whirlpool facility. it's now the largest cooking product facility of its kind in the world. extraordinary. and these examples are important because manufacturing jobs tend

to be high paying jobs with good benefits for middle class working families. and manufacturing is truly key to america inovation and competitiveness. manufacturing accounts for 70% of our private sector r&d, of 90% of our patents and 60% of our total exports, including a record $1.3 trillion in goods exported last year. so today i think we all agree we need to build on this momentum. and i heard it in your comments. after all, if we lose the ability to turn ideas, american ideas into american products, if we lose that, our innovation chains would break, and we would

lose our long-term capacity to compete and create jobs. as you havewritn testimony, we are focused on four key areas at the commerce department. .i' first prorks moting innovation and protecting intellectual property. second, establishing regional manufacturing partnerships. third prorks moting investment and trade. and fourth, providing manufacture and analysis on the manufacturing sector. on a broader scale, the president has laid out a number of proposals to support u.s. manufacturing. for example, he has propose weed reform our corporate tax code for the first time since the 1980s. this would lower the effective rate for u.s. manufacturers to 25%. also, through the commerce department at nist, the national

institute of standards and technology, the new budget, the 2013 budget requests $1 billion for a national network of manufacturing innovation. and this would help maximize the industry strengths in each of our u.s. regions. i'll comment on that later if you'd like to go into that. overall, our focus at the commerce department is powerful and sharp. the way we express it is build it here and sell it everywhere. manufacturing, build it here, sell it everywhere. i want to close by thanking you for continuing to support a vibrant and dynamic manufacturing base. thank you for passing hr-4105, the bipartisan gpx legislation. this allows our manufacturers to challenge and seek relief from unfairly subsidized products entering our market.

efforts such as these will help strengthen our recovery, create more jobs and ensure that american manufacturing continues to lead in the 21st century. pleased now to take your questions. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i will recognize myself with the first set of questions. and my question to you begins with, the manufacturing council was intended to be a strong voice advising the government of the private sector's views on issues that affect manufacturing. yet that voice is not always heard by the regulatory agencies, most notably, the epa. what can you do to make sure other federal agencies pay attention to the needs of american manufacturers? >> let me address the manufacturing council, then i'll touch on the epa point if i could. >> sure. >> so the u.s. manufacturing policy council, which i chair across the entire federal

government, is a big step to bring all the departments together so that we operate exactly with the same perspective, the same voice. we reduce redundancy. we work across federal departments. the department of defense, department of energy and so on. so i think that is a way to reduce the bureaucracy, to be more productive, to be more efficient. with regard to the point about epa and regulation, i can't address specifically the epa issues, but if i could, i'll just touch generally on regulation. and that is -- i don't know the specifics of the epa regulation very well, but what the president has done and what i strongly believe in, and i hear it all the time and i work with manufacturers a lot is we have to reduce regulation to the maximum extent we possibly can. and what the president is repeatedly said is we will allow regulation only to the extent.

it is essential to our economy, the growth in the economy, to national security and to education. so those are the criteria. and as a consequence, for example, i think it's pretty widely known that the level of regulation and new regulation is less than the first three years of this administration and the comparable three years in the prior administration. but we have to keep working very hard on that. >> thank you, mr. secretary. in the sake of time because i know we have a time crunch, i'm going to cut my questioning short recognizing that you and i spent a fair amount of time together yesterday and you answered a whole host of my questions. at this point i'm going to yield back my time and recognize mr. butterfield for five minutes. >> thank you. mr. secretary, the steel industry is a major employer in my district employing hundreds of hard-working men and women with solid jobs that they can support their families with.

the industry is still recovering from the great recession. and increased imports of low-priced imports have hampered that recovery. specifically, imports of hot rolled steel from russia have surged into the u.s. market, increasing by more than 50% between 2010 and 2011. there is a trade agreement covering these imports. and in fact, the commerce department and the u.s. international trade commission ruled last year that this remedy should stay in place to prevent injury to the industry. however, the remedy is no longer effective in preventing dumping. the pricing mechanism in the agreement is so outdated, it litera rullian producers a license to dump their steel in the u.s. my constituents brought this to the attention of the commerce department, and i understand that you may be currently negotiating with the russian government to update the agreement so that it reflects current conditions and is effective in preventing dumping.

can you give me and my colleagues an update on those efforts? can you assure me that you will hang tough and make sure the agreement is revised in a way that prevents further injury to the industry and workers. i appreciate you giving this matter the urgency that it deserves. >> we have the responsibility in the commerce department to see to it the trade laws are respected, honored, and we prosecute many, many cases in which it appears there has been anti-dumping, countervailing duties that we needed to impose because subsidies and other means of undermining u.s. manufacturing were being hurt. i don't know the russia case. i will have to get back on that to you later. >> thank you. please do that. that's a big deal to the steel industry. >> i understand. >> mr. secretary, we have heard all sorts of reasons for why there's been a