Rochester Business Journal

Rep. Louise Slaughter on Thursday called for passage of legislation that would end tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs to other countries, and instead use them to reward companies who return jobs to the U.S.

Slaughter, D-Perinton, made the appeal during a news conference at Hickey Freeman on North Clinton Avenue.

“It’s time to end tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas, and it’s time to end the unfair bans on American goods across the world,” Slaughter said.

“Instead, we need to help companies that create jobs here at home, and rebuild the American dream. That’s why I’m fighting for this Made in America agenda; to level the playing field for American manufacturers and workers.”

In addition to supporting the Bring American Jobs Home Act, Slaughter advocated for two bills she introduced in Congress.

The Keep America Secure Act would require high-tech electronic tools used by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the military to be made in the U.S.

The Reciprocal Markets Access Act instructs U.S. trade negotiators to eliminate foreign market barriers before reducing U.S. tariffs.

“We can’t be the world’s only superpower if we don’t make anything anymore, and it’s long past time that our biggest exports were something other than American jobs and empty shipping containers,” Slaughter said.

“I want to see Hickey Freeman suits being sold in Chinese shopping malls, and Chevys being driven on the streets of Tokyo and Seoul. I want to see U.S. Steel being used in construction projects in India, and the label ‘Made in the USA’ on clothes in Berlin.”

Hickey Freeman is a division of HMX DTC Co.

(c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.