{"id":108938,"date":"2019-09-04T13:35:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108938"},"modified":"2019-09-04T13:35:47","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:35:47","slug":"brindisi-and-sherrill-manufacturing-announce-major-push-for-spoonss-act-legislation-to-secure-more-jobs-in-oneida-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=108938","title":{"rendered":"Brindisi and Sherrill Manufacturing announce major push for SPOONSS Act legislation to secure more jobs in Oneida County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Rep. Anthony Brindisi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi: When choosing between supporting and creating\nAmerican jobs over Chinese jobs\u2014I\u2019ll choose hard working Americans every time<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) joined Sherrill\nManufacturing Employees today to demand Congress include his bipartisan Support\nProcurement of our Nation\u2019s Stainless Steel Act<\/em> in the National\nDefense Authorization Act<\/em> conference bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi successfully amended the House version of the NDAA<\/em> to\ninclude this legislation but is turning up the heat on Congressional leadership\nto ensure the provision is included in the final bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a no-brainer,\u201d Brindisi said. \u201cWhen choosing between supporting and creating\nAmerican jobs over Chinese jobs\u2014I\u2019ll choose hard working Americans every time.\nCongress constantly talks about bringing back and keeping good-paying American\njobs. This actually gets it done. Mitch McConnell and other Congressional\nleaders owe it to our soldiers and to our manufacturers, like Liberty Tabletop,\nto get this done.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Thank you to Congressman Brindisi for his tireless\nadvocacy on this bill,\u201d said Greg\nOwens, CEO of Sherrill Manufacturing. \u201cThis legislation is about keeping\njobs in America and will create more good-paying jobs for Oneida County. It is\ntime for Congress to do the right thing and get this bill to the President’s\ndesk.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi\u2019s bill would reinstate the Berry Amendment\u2019s\nlong-standing Department of Defense domestic sourcing requirement for stainless\nsteel flatware. Brindisi secured this provision in the NDAA<\/em>.\nThe SPOONSS Act<\/em> was introduced in previous years but was\ndefeated each time it came to a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Defense was previously required to\npurchase American-made flatware, but due to a supply problem, this requirement\nwas removed in the 2007 NDAA<\/em>. Since then, domestic flatware and\ndinnerware production has rebounded. Oneida County\u2019s Sherrill Manufacturing,\nlocated in Sherrill, produces several lines of flatware under the Liberty\nTabletop brand and continues to grow its American workforce and revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brindisi sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of\nthe House and Senate Armed Services Committee demanding they include the SPOONSS\nAct<\/em> in the final bill. Brindisi\u2019s letter to leadership is below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Chairman Smith, Chairman Inhofe, Ranking Member\nThornberry, and Ranking Member Reed:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you begin conference negotiations on the Fiscal Year\n(FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we write to urge the\npreservation of several bipartisan provisions that were included in the House\nNDAA that are critical for New York and our country. To ensure we continue to\nbuild upon efforts to support our servicemembers, grow our strategic advantage,\nand keep our nation safe, we urge you to preserve the following bipartisan\nprovisions in the conferenced bill:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The House NDAA included a provision which was\nadopted as an amendment that would direct the Secretary of Defense and\nSecretary of the Air Force to establish a Quantum Information Science (QIS)\nInnovation Center to accelerate the research and development of quantum\ninformation sciences by the Air Force. The QIS Innovation Center would provide\nan environment where researchers from the Air Force, government, industry, and\nacademia can collaborate to solve difficult problems using QIS technology. The\nlanguage authorizes $10 million for Air Force Research, Development, Test and\nEvaluation funding to be made available for the establishment of the QIS\nInnovation Center. The efforts to develop QIS has immense national security and\neconomic implications for the United States. Our adversaries, including China,\nrecognize the massive potential of quantum technologies, and have begun to\ninvest heavily. We cannot afford to fall behind them in the development of QIS\ntechnologies. <\/em><\/li>
  2. The House NDAA included the Support\nProcurement Of Our Nation\u2019s Stainless Steel Act or \u201cSPOONSS Act\u201d, which was\nadopted as an amendment on a bipartisan vote. This language would re-instate\nthe Berry Amendment’s long-standing Department of Defense (DoD) domestic\nsourcing requirement for stainless steel flatware and also add a \u201cdinner ware\u201d\ndomestic sourcing requirement. From 1976-2006, the Berry Amendment included a\ndomestic sourcing requirement for stainless steel flatware, which was\neliminated in 2007 due to a lack of domestic supply. Since then, domestic\nflatware production has rebounded, leading to a stable domestic supply chain\nand manufacturer base, which supports restoring the long-standing domestic\nsourcing requirement. The Berry Amendment\u2019s domestic sourcing requirement for\nstainless steel flatware should be restored given the availability of\nreasonably priced flatware produced by a domestic company with a strong track\nrecord of selling products to the federal government. The DoD would retain the\nability to waive the domestic sourcing requirement if, for any reason, domestic\nflatware or dinnerware could not be procured at market prices. The amendment\nalso provides for a one-year phase-in period. Since 2008, domestic manufacturers\nhave sold nearly $7 million in flatware to the federal government through MAS\ncontracts as well as GSA Advantage, demonstrating their reliability as a stable\ndomestic supplier of stainless-steel flatware to federal purchasers. <\/em><\/li>
  3. The House NDAA included a provision which was\nadopted as an amendment that would make the requirement that deployed\nservicemembers must receive an in-person mental health assessment every 180\ndays permanent. This requirement expired on January 1, 2019. This language\nseeks to address servicemember suicide by ensuring servicemembers receive\nregular mental health assessments while deployed.<\/em><\/li>
  4. The House NDAA included a provision which was\nadopted as an amendment that would require the Comptroller General of the\nUnited States to report on the Department of Defense\u2019s implementation of\nSection 701 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year\n2015\u2014often referred to as the \u201cJacob Sexton Act\u201d\u2014which requires every\nservicemember (active, guard, and reserve) to receive a mental health\nassessment annually from DoD. The report would include an evaluation of the\nimplementation of the assessments, an evaluation of the efficacy of the\nassessments, and an analysis of how lessons learned from the annual mental health\nassessments can be used within DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs to\nprevent servicemember and veteran suicide. <\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We commend you on your leadership and commitment to our\nservicemembers, and we urge you to preserve the bipartisan provisions listed above\nin the final FY 2020 NDAA. These provisions will help keep our country safe and\nensure our servicemembers have the support they need to succeed. Therefore, we\nrespectfully request that the attached language be included in the final NDAA.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sincerely, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Brindisi: When choosing between supporting and creating American jobs over Chinese jobs\u2014I\u2019ll choose hard working Americans every time Congressman Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) joined Sherrill Manufacturing Employees today to demand Congress include his bipartisan Support Procurement of our Nation\u2019s Stainless Steel Act in the National Defense Authorization Act conference bill. Brindisi successfully amended the House version of the NDAA to include […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Rep-Anthony-Brindisi-Congress.jpg?fit=220%2C220&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-sl4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}