John Ragan of TPI Composites and Denise Bode of the American Wind Energy Association presented a commemorative plaque and wind turbine bolt as part of the award this afternoon.  TPI Composites operates a 316,000 square foot wind turbine blade facility in Newton.

Senator Grassley authored the legislation that established the tax credit for wind energy in 1992 as a way to provide a level playing field for this renewable resource against coal-fired and nuclear energy and to help grow an innovative energy industry.

Today, Grassley is the author of bipartisan legislation to extend the tax credit for two years after it expires at the end of the year.  If the tax credit lapses, an estimated 37,000 jobs could be lost across the country.

"Tax relief has proven successful in developing wind energy, and it ought to be continued with the degree of certainty needed for continued investment and development of this clean energy alternative," Grassley said.  "Wind is free, inexhaustible, and environmentally friendly.  Conventional energy sources, including oil, gas and nuclear, enjoy countless tax incentives and many of them are permanent law."

Nationwide, the wind energy industry supports 75,000 jobs and drives as much as $20 billion in private investment.  During the last five years, 35 percent of all new electric generation in the United States was wind.  There are nearly 400 wind-related manufacturing facilities today, compared with just 30 in 2004.

In Iowa, the wind energy industry employs 5,000 full-time workers, and there are major wind manufacturing facilities in Newton, West Branch, Cedar Rapids and Fort Madison.

Iowa generates 20 percent of its electricity needs from wind.  Wind energy powers the equivalent of a million homes.  There are nearly 3,000 utility-scale turbines in Iowa, and they generate lease payments to landowners worth $12.5 million every year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after President Obama nominated Jim Yong Kim, an American physician and the current president of Dartmouth College, to lead the World Bank.  Dr. Kim spent much of his childhood in Muscatine, Iowa.

"This son of Iowa recognizes the significance of quality health care, the importance of increasing access to care, and its impact on the global economy.  His nomination comes on an important day - the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.  Dr. Kim has distinguished himself as one of the great thinkers of our time and I congratulate him on his nomination today."

Washington, DC - This week the House Armed Services Committee's bipartisan Defense Business Panel, on which Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) serves, released the report of its findings, Challenges to Doing Business with the Department of Defense: Findings of the Panel on Business Challenges in the Defense Industry. The Defense Business Panel was chaired by Congressman Bill Shuster (PA-09), with Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02) as its ranking member.

The report is the culmination of six months of work examining the current defense business climate to identify and streamline contracting and regulatory issues facing the defense industry.  In completing its work, the Defense Business Panel met with or received testimony from more than 150 people representing government, industry, think tanks, and academia from around the country.  The Panel traveled to Moline in early October 2011 and met near the Rock Island Arsenal, the largest government-owned weapons and manufacturing arsenal in the United States.

"I appreciate the opportunity to serve on this panel, and my thanks goes to Chairman McKeon, Congressman Schuster, and Congressman Larsen for recognizing the vital role the Rock Island Arsenal plays in our country's defense strategy," Schilling said.  "Having a strong defense industrial base is an important part of our economy and our national security.  I am hopeful that this Panel's conversation will go on, and that we continue to work closely with folks in the defense contracting community to stay in tune with what works, what doesn't, and what we can change to make the defense acquisition process easier for smaller contractors to navigate."

The report includes several key recommendations, including:

• Requiring the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Service Secretaries, to develop a long-term strategy for maintaining a robust and effective defense industrial base.
• Requiring the Secretary of Defense to develop policies and mechanisms to improve communication with industry to better enable industry to allocate independent R&D resources and make investments to meet the future needs of the Department.
• Ensuring that work being reserved for small business performance is actually performed by small businesses.
• Continuing to rebuild the breadth and depth of the defense acquisition workforce which will, in all likelihood, save money and improve acquisition outcomes.
• Simplifying and streamlining the acquisition process by conducting a comprehensive review of the laws and regulations that govern the acquisition process in order to repeal or amend regulations that are outdated or have had unintended consequences that outweigh the original intent of the regulation.

In addition, the House Small Business Committee today approved the Building Better Business Partnerships Act, H.R. 3985, introduced by Schilling and Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32).  Schilling's legislation, which was introduced in early February as part of the Committee's contracting reform initiative, would streamline the process for small businesses to participate in mentor-protégé programs, which pair new businesses looking to increase their government contracts with more experienced businesses.  The bill will help all small businesses to more easily and more effectively contract with the federal government, enabling them to grow, create jobs, and get Americans back to work.

Schilling said "I've owned my own small pizzeria for more than 15 years, and understand how difficult and limiting some federal programs can be for small business owners to navigate and access.  Contracting with the federal government is no different.

"I've heard from numerous job creators in my district about how valuable winning and retaining federal contracts are to growing their business and how the end result affects the men and women they employ.  With unemployment over nine percent in Illinois, every initiative we can take to help businesses of all sizes grow, create jobs, and get folks back to work matters.

"I'm pleased this bill was approved by the Small Business Committee with unanimous bipartisan support, and am hopeful it gets through Congress and to the President for signature along with the rest of the Committee's contracting reform initiative to help level the playing field for small businesses in contracting."

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Political gridlock to blame

Washington, DC - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement today regarding delays in passing a transportation bill out of Congress:

"Ridiculous partisan gridlock in Washington continues to delay funding to fix Iowa's dilapidated and dangerous roads and bridges. This must stop and the solution is simple.

"The House should join Senators Grassley and Harkin and pass the bipartisan transportation bill to fix our roads and bridges and create hundreds of jobs in Iowa. Washington should stop kicking the can down our deteriorating roads, which are putting drivers and passengers at risk."

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