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| 'Inside the
TCMA' featured Article |
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Chairman's Message |
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TCMA |
July 2023 |
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Your Texas Delegation journeyed to
Washington DC to attend the 2023 AFS Governmental Affairs Fly-In held
June 20-21. Our delegation was composed of:
Eric Meyers, Jr. – Oil City Iron Works
Connie Chaplin – OCIW
Owen Daniels – Midland Manufacturing
Stan Bass – Fort Worth Aluminum Foundry
Brett Morehead – Porter Warner
We were treated to an excellent line up of speakers each providing
valuable insights to current events and how their efforts impact
foundry’s:
Economic & Energy Outlook presented by Dean Foreman, Chief Economist,
Texas Oil and Gas Association. Stated that at every level, global, U.S.
and Texas the economic growth has weakened but not collapsed suggesting
continued resilience. Texas economy has achieved notable milestones in
terms of record high GDP predominantly driven by oil and gas. However,
oil prices and U.S. drilling remain muted.
Permitting Reform Overview presented by Chad Whiteman, VP of Environment
and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Reviewed the negative
impact of NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) the most litigated
environmental statute for failure to meet requirements for EIS
(Environmental Impact Statement) leading to permitting delays in holding
up legitimate investments in energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing
projects for 4 to 7.7 years. The single biggest obstacle to building the
infrastructure of the future is a broken permitting system. The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce is bringing together organizations from across the
country and economy in calling on Congress to Permit America to Build by
enacting meaningful, durable legislation to modernize America’s
permitting processes before the end of summer 2023.
DoD – Overview of the IBAS program presented by Bryan Mitsdarffer,
Technology Director, Office of the Industrial Base Analysis and
Sustainment (IBAS) Program, U.S. Department of Defense. The statutory
base to this program is 10 U.S. Code § 4817. The DoD must act now to
position itself to replenish and maintain its stock of cast and forged
items..
Trade Enforcement presented by Dustin Painter, Partner, Kelley Drye.
Circumvention of Tariffs has become the standard, so Congress is working
on two bills to a comprehensive approach. Enhance Customs enforcement
tools to penalize bad actors and strengthened trade remedy tools to help
domestic interests fight back. Fighting Trade Cheats Act (S. 805 / H.R.
2667) and Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 (S. 1856 / H.R. 3882).
Luncheon with Keynote Address 2024 Elections & Politics in America by Kellyanne Conway. Ms. Conway is a political consultant and pollster, who
served as the Senior Counselor to the Trump administration from 2017 to
2020. She ultimately became the first woman to run a successful U.S.
presidential campaign. She has held roles as campaign manager and
strategist in the Republican Party and was formerly president and CEO of
the Polling Company/Woman Trend. She was an amazing speaker with many
President Trump campaign and White House stories through the changes in
government through these post Trump years and the concerns facing our
nation today.
EPA – Impact of PM2.5 Proposed Rule on U.S. Foundries presented by Peter Tomasi, Partner, Foley & Lardner. The efforts here are to communicate to
Congress that they should require the EPA to deny reconsideration.
Reconsidering PM2.5 standard now will; block permitting of new
manufacturing, prevent build out of infrastructure funded under
transportation bill, require costly controls, and force businesses to
relocate or move offshore.
In the evening we headed to the Metalcasting Industry Reception at the
Capitol Hill Club to honor this year’s Metal Casting Industry
Congressional Champion Award recipients; Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and our
own Rep. Kay Granger (R-12-TX). The American Foundry Society honored
them for their steadfast support of the U.S. metalcasting industry
during a June 20 presentation at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington,
D.C. as part of the 2023 AFS Government Affairs Fly-In.
The
Congressional Champion Awards recognize lawmakers who have demonstrated
strong support of U.S. metalcasters and an understanding of the
important role foundries play in our economy and industrial base.
Granger and Young have consistently championed policies that promote
growth and competitiveness for metalcasters across the country. Our very
own past Chairman – Owen Daniel did the honors of Introducing and
Presenting the award to Rep. Granger. Rep. Granger has served Texas’
12th congressional district since 1997, when she became the first
Republican woman to represent Texas in the U.S. House. She also chairs
the House Appropriations Committee.
Educated through the presentations your Texas Delegation headed to
Capitol Hill this year focused on communicating our four main messages
to our Senators and Representatives:
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1. |
Support Tax Policies that promote
Investment, Development, and Expansion. |
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2. |
Fix the Broken Permitting Process. |
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3. |
Strengthen U.S. Trade Laws and End
Offshoring Loopholes. |
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4. |
Oppose harmful Air Regulations Impacting
U.S. Metalcaster. |
The Governmental Affairs Fly In continues to be a well-organized event
that is both rewarding and productive. We sincerely appreciate all the
planning and work that Doug Kurkul, Stephanie Salomon, and the entire
2023 AFS Governmental Affairs Committee and Staff put in to this Fly-In
events success.
Brett Morehead
TCMA Chairman |
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