With economic recovery slow and U.S. job creation flagging, America needs a strong and capable hand at the tiller of the Commerce Department. John Bryson, President Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary, is the right choice for advocating the initiatives that can expand the economy, encourage private sector jobs, ramp up exports and advocate the pro-growth policies the nation sorely needs.
At the Commerce Department, Bryson will serve a key ambassador for a United States that is open for business, willing to talk about and advocate responsible foreign investment in our country and pushing for U.S. business opportunities overseas. Business leaders — at home and overseas — will have a strong partner in economic development, ready to go to bat for jobs and growth, strengthening old partnerships while building new ones.
But that’s only one part of the commerce secretary’s job. Bryson will also oversee a wide range of diverse programs aimed at fostering business growth and job creation through trade and technology. He must decide how best to use various national resources to help the country’s economy to accelerate.
As secretary, Bryson will understand, for example, how critical fixing our patent system is to U.S. business, and to the country’s ability to innovate. He will know what finding new markets can mean to a company and he possesses a real understanding of how smart investments in basic research and technology can determine whether America is home to the jobs of the future.
I know John Bryson well, having sat side by side with him for the past 14 years on the board of directors of the Boeing Company. Countless times throughout his service, I’ve watched as he’s helped develop the growth strategies for a hallmark U.S. company, which has successfully honed its product lines and its employment footprint in the middle of intense international competition. A superb board member who is savvy and articulate, he has joined in building consensus around good growth inside the company, looking for strategies that work and succeed, testing theories and proposals to find what is possible and which deliver value to shareholders and employees alike.
Boeing has taken on some serious challenges over the last decade that. Had we not prevailed, many workers could have left adrift. John was a key board member as we debated and decided to launch our new Dreamliner 787; win the recent Air Force tanker competition; add thousands of jobs in Puget Sound, and open a new production line in the South. None was an easy decision. Yet John helped our drive to integrate vision, strategy and complexity at the highest levels of business.
Helping build a strong and vibrant company today, he can now bring that skill set to the executive branch.
When it comes to the newer, greener, economy of the 21st century, Bryson is uniquely qualified to address where our country is headed. Integrating the economic needs of a community; the challenges of evolving attitudes about where power comes from, and the responsibilities of running a business successfully, are old hat for him.
As the chief executive officer of Southern California Edison, he led power production through crises for customers, and has been on the cutting edge of innovation. During his 18 years in charge, he helped Edison emerge as a leader in innovative approaches for proving the profitability of clean energy. The company became a leader in solar and wind power.
Balancing customer interests and shareholder concerns, he drove the company to significantly use clean coal technology – as well as cleaner coal. In the end, the new technology had a positive impact on both air pollution and the company’s bottom line.
It can’t hurt that he was the youngest chairman of the California Public Utilities Commission, and served on it during the energy crisis of the late 1970s. Once our economy gets back up to speed, ensuring that we have reliable energy resources necessary for businesses to produce goods and services will be a critical component of any enduring recovery.
Many criticize the Commerce Department as a hodge-podge of unrelated agencies. Some politicians have even urged its elimination. In the past, we’ve all witnessed times where administrations have used the department to dump employees whose expertise is more politics and fundraising than effective government operations.
But with his strong business background, John brings an experienced eye to the department’s work — to ensure that taxpayers receive full value for all that commerce employees undertake. In this period of federal spending stress, serious policy makers should welcome reasonable reforms in federal department operations and missions — and I know John is a serious person.
Presently, the Obama administration and Congress are negotiating to free up the South Korean, Colombia and Panama Free Trade Agreements. Until they are adopted, Senate Republicans have indicated that they will not allow the Senate to act on the Bryson nomination.
Once this legislative hurdle has been cleared, I believe the Senate should confirm Bryson as commerce secretary. He will bring considerable business skills and a keen understanding of what it takes to expand the America economy to the president’s Cabinet table. He understands the vital intersection of public policy, government actions, and private sector imperatives.
With unblemished integrity, he calls them as he sees them, an invigorating value in government during these trying times.
Once he’s in office, I hope that the White House will listen to John — and others at the Commerce Department. Executing Commerce’s mission will be crucial to ensuring that the administration’s pro-growth and job creation agenda kicks into higher gear — for the benefit of all Americans.
Postingan
