President Talks Up Manufacturing in NE Ohio

In a Labor Day speech in the crossroads town of Richfield, President Bush talked up the need to do something for manufacturing.

Ohio has lost nearly 200,000 jobs - many in manufacturing - since Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.

"Any part of a good recovery for the state of Ohio and other manufacturing states has got to be for the manufacturing sector," Bush said.

U.S. Senator George Voinovich, who spoke before Bush arrived, has been pushing legislation to create a new high-level position for manufacturing within the Department of Commerce.

"Manufacturing is under siege by high energy costs, litigation expenses and unfair foreign trade," Voinovich said in a statement issued after the president's speech.

"The president's move today is a welcome one that will give manufacturers and manufacturing workers a Washington insider on their side."

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