Defense Production Act Legislation Strengthens U.S. Defense Industrial Base

U.S. manufacturers continue to roundly applaud the enactment of the Defense Production Act (DPA) reforms and reauthorization (S. 1677), the bill signed into law by President Obama last month.

?America?s national security is threatened by the erosion the recession has caused to our defense industrial base,? warned Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT ? The Association For Manufacturing Technology (McLean, VA). ?This country?s manufacturing sector needs the type of support provided by the Defense Production Act if we are to continue our critical role in defense preparedness.?

The DPA was created in 1950 during the Korean War to ensure that American industry could be mobilized swiftly and effectively in times of war. It was set to expire on September 30 unless President Obama acted. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) joined forces in this current effort to update the DPA and make it more effective in current times.

?The bipartisan leadership of Senators Dodd and Shelby and the broad support and swift action of the Senate illustrate the wide recognition that the DPA will be used now to help manufacturers hard hit by this economic downturn, particularly those that continue to have problems accessing credit,? said Woods.

Eugene Haffely, Jr., chief operating officer of Assembly & Test Worldwide, Inc. and a member of AMT?s board of directors, testified in support of the DPA reforms in the Dodd-Shelby bill in a May Senate Banking Subcommittee hearing chaired by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), an early champion of the DPA bill. ?Sen. Brown recognizes that America?s national security depends on a healthy manufacturing base and right now, it?s not healthy,? said Haffely. ?Tight credit continues to plague companies up and down the industrial production chain. And without credit, business is at a standstill.?

Haffely said the loan and loan guarantee program in the DPA bill will help shore up struggling companies critical to national security, thereby promoting economic growth and ensuring that we are not dependent on foreign sources for our defense needs.

Woods praised the efforts that led to swift enactment of S.1677, but acknowledged that the loan guarantee program still needs funding. ?Let?s hope that Congress and the Administration can find the federal dollars necessary to start making DPA loans quickly. That will be a real sign that they are serious about getting manufacturing and this country back on the right track.?

AMT ? The Association For Manufacturing Technology was founded in 1902 as the National Machine Tool Builders' Association and supports and promotes the U.S. manufacturing technology industry. The association provides U.S. builders of manufacturing systems with the latest information on technical developments, trade and marketing opportunities, and economic issues. It also gathers and disseminates information about world markets, promotes its members' products in those markets, and acts as a representative on manufacturing technology matters to governments and trade organizations throughout the world.