Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Brigadier General Adams’s, and Scott Paul. (Credit Kaylie Hanson)
As if loosing our good jobs to China was not bad enough now our national security is at risk because of the policies set forth in Washington. We are at risk of being forced into a position where the United States could be called into war and we cannot supply our troops. Why, because we do not produce the materials needed to create our weapons of war.
For many years we have been talking about the decline of American Manufacturing. Now that decline in manufacturing and mining is starting to come back to bite us again.
Have you ever heard of lanthanum? Well let me tell what lanthanum is used for. Lanthanum is one of the main ingredients needed to create night vision goggles. Ring a bell yet? No me either. The reason why I am talking about lanthanum is because lanthanum is one of the rare elements that we need to supply our troops, but we do not mine it. In fact 91% of all lanthanum comes from China. Add that to the fact that 90% of all rare elements come from China that puts us in a tight spot.
Let me give you another example. Have you ever heard of butanetriol? Um no. What if I told you that butanetriol is the fuel that is used to propel the Hellfire missile. I am sure you remember hearing our how we have used Hellfire missiles in recent conflicts. The Hellfire is one of our military’s most powerful weapons. Now how would you feel if I were to tell you that we get our butanetriol from one supplier. The only supplier who produces butanetriol and they are based in China.
Are you seeing the problem yet? Some of the tools we need to supply our military is being produced by Chinese manufactures. What happens if we were to ever enter into a conflict with China? Or if we enter into a conflict that China opposes? They could close our supply chain and effectively take us out of the conflict. Remember how the North defeated the South in the civil war? Your right, they destroyed their supply chains.
These are only two of the dozens of examples that were cited in a new report from Brigadier General John Adams and the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
America is always on the verge of war. We train hundreds of thousands of military personnel to be ready to fight at any moment. We stockpile weapons, just in case we need them. Right now we are on the verge of getting involved in yet another conflict with Syria. What would happen if we jumped into that conflict without the ability to supply our troops?
This is why Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) are pushing for an increase in American Defense Manufacturing. I have been following the ‘Buy America” campaign and have talked about Senator Murphy’s proposals before. The campaign is simple, rebuild our economy by investing in American manufacturing. Put people to work, and now protect our supply lines to our troops. Senator Murphy said ”we should not be solely relying on out-of-state suppliers”.
Currency manipulation is one of the biggest problems in trading with China. “Due to currency manipulation the raw materials costs in the United States are the same as final price of Chinese steel” said Congressman Tim Ryan. Bills to fix the currency manipulation from China have been introduced to Congress for many years. The problem is that they cannot get the bill through both houses in one Congressional term, therefore the bill dies.
Congressman Mo Brooks continued by saying that outsourcing effect the our country in two ways. It “weakens families incomes (job losses) and weakens the country’s ability to pay to protect our country (loss in revenue)”.
Senator Murphy continued by highlighting some of the key points from the new report, Recommendations to Strengthen America’s Defense Industrial Base and Ensure National Security. The major points include:
- fixing the Chinese currency manipulation problem;
- increase long-term federal investment in high-technology industries;
- develop domestic sources for important natural resources;
The report refers to seven other recommendation that will help to mitigate this potential risk to our National Security. Now we need Congress to take swift action to pass this common sense solution to rebuild our manufacturing base and protect our troops.
