America’s Workers Make This Country Great
September 5, 2011
Labor Day is a day to reflect upon the hard work done by men and women to make this country great. And while there is no doubt we are navigating troubled waters right now, make no mistake that this country is still great and we still have the best workers in the world.
I was gratified that the President decided to spend Labor Day right here in Southeast Michigan. Michigan was the first and among the hardest hit by the recession. We still suffer from an unemployment rate of 10.9 percent. Clearly, we are not out of the woods. That said, our employment situation has improved over the past couple of years.
Just last month I attended the opening of Ventower down in Monroe. Ventower has a remarkable story. The company took advantage of federal money to clean up an old industrial site and is now making component parts for wind turbines. Their goal is to employ more than 300 people at the Monroe facility. Just think of it, cleaning an industrial site to make component parts for clean, renewable energy. And with proper federal incentives, the Ventower story can be replicated throughout the Midwest.
In addition, Michigan, with the help of federal and state incentives, is poised to become the battery capital of the world. In fact, nearly half of the battery money included in the Recovery Act came right here to Michigan. Since then, we have seen the opening of A123 Systems in Romulus employing 1000 people as of mid-July and General Motors is using its Hamtramck facility to assemble the battery packs for the Chevy Volt.
The Department of Energy just gave Severstal Steel a loan to expand their Dearborn facility to make lightweight steel for the vehicles of the future. This expansion will employ over 2,000 people.
The President chose to spend Labor Day in Michigan because we are on the road to recovery. I know times are hard for people and please know that I will continue to fight in Washington for jobs right here at home. As I often say, we have the best workers in the world here in Michigan and every last one of them who wants a high-quality job should have one.
John Dingell
