U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced legislation this week that seeks to rebuild critical industries by increasing coordination between federal finance programs.
Their bill, the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act, would authorize $20 billion over 10 years to “supercharge” loans made by other federal financing facilities. The funding, controlled by the Department of Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank, would be directed by a newly established committee made up of cabinet-level agency heads, including the Secretaries of Treasury, Defense, Commerce, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, among others.
“From the loss of good jobs to a weakened industrial base to shortages of basic grocery and pharmaceutical items, Americans are suffering from decades of misguided offshoring to countries like China. If we want to be a strong nation, we have to rebuild and invest in critical industries at home. This bill lays the groundwork by creating the roadmap, using existing tools within our government, to focus on and invest in things that actually matter,” Rubio said.
This committee would be charged with developing a National Development Strategy every four years. It would also be authorized to direct agencies with existing direct loan and loan guarantee programs to set priorities consistent with the national strategy.
“For decades, we watched as American industry went offshore, and the federal government has only offered a Band-Aid to communities that have been left behind. What we need now is a national project to restore our nation’s manufacturing leadership and unify Americans around a shared purpose. I’m proud to introduce this bicameral, bipartisan bill with Senator Rubio to help fix our supply chain issues in the long term and invest in critical industries and good paying jobs at home,” Khanna said.