Joshua Adjutant of Enfield is a NH state representative. U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna represents California’s 17th District.
In 1945, the United States was at a pivotal turning point. With Nazi Germany defeated and Imperial Japan surrendered, the most devastating and destabilizing war in human history had come to an end. However, the job of securing peace had just begun.
In the aftermath, President Truman feared that post-war Europe could be susceptible to authoritarianism and radicalism without a large-scale effort to rebuild. To combat those forces, he signed the European Recovery Program, now known as the Marshall Plan, leading to the fastest period of growth in European history and securing democracy in Western Europe.
Though not so dramatically, communities across our country today are also facing infrastructure and economic conditions that threaten democracy and cause real pain and hardship. American communities have been devastated by decades of deindustrialization. Individual action will not be enough to solve this and strengthen democracy for the 21st century.
What we need is a moonshot to rebuild America. One of us has already introduced a resolution in the New Hampshire House of Representatives calling for an American Marshall Plan to restore industry in this country and bring manufacturing back to places like Youngstown and Berlin and Claremont and Detroit. This resolution would create a blueprint for Congressional action and would encourage House and Senate Democrats to continue the important work of bringing jobs back to America and rebuilding our communities. It’s time to pass it.
When we come together in this country, business and government, labor leaders and educational leaders, we can build things and we can make things. It’s time to invest in new factories, in the industries of the future, and in taking care of our country’s workers. We can do this in a way that is more achievable than ever before because of advanced technology. It’s often easier and more productive to make things in this country if we are willing to make the investment.
Congress and President Biden recently made a much-needed investment with the successful passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. The bill provides $52 billion to revitalize the semiconductor manufacturing industry in America. We are already seeing the results with Intel making a $20 billion investment in Ohio, which will create thousands of high-paying jobs, most of which will not require college degrees. We should expand on this success across the country in states like New Hampshire.
We also need to focus on job creation in the industries of the future like clean energy technology. Two of the fastest-growing industries in America today are solar and wind. Authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin don’t do solar panels, batteries, wind turbines, or fusion. They rely on oil and gas. Democracies innovate and will lead the clean tech revolution while creating thousands of jobs.
As we build America, we must make sure to treat our workers with dignity and respect. That means passing legislation like the PRO Act to expand collective bargaining and ensure unions for all. Every worker deserves good protection, fair pay, and a stable future.
An American Marshall Plan is not just about our economy. It’s also about strengthening our democracy. If we do not work together, then we do not prosper together. The original Marshall Plan ensured that a prosperous future governed by democratic institutions existed for Europe. Let’s do the same now for America.