U.S. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) joined Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday in Rochester, New York, to announce the first investment in Reed’s Revitalizing American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act, which will create manufacturing jobs and increase opportunities for the Western New York region.
The trio referred to the investment as a “once in a generation” investment into the region’s manufacturing industries, aimed at creating the jobs of the future.
“I care about the people across the region, and it’s only fair that we work to create quality, family-sustaining jobs right here at home,” Reed said. “(This is the first) investment following the passage of (our) bipartisan Revitalizing American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act, last Congress. It’s important to keep delivering results like this, even in a time of hyper-partisanship.”
The investment is expected to rapidly facilitate job development across Western New York, and the country, as it will funnel hundreds of millions of dollars from public, private and nonprofit sources into the high-tech manufacturing field of photonics, an industry that manipulates and studies different frequencies of light, developing data that can be used for fiber-optic technology in telecommunications systems, medical technology and lasers.
Total public and private investment in the Photonics Institute is expected to exceed $600 million, with roughly $110 million being derived from the U.S. Department of Defense.
“By starting this investment now, we are going to see long-term job growth throughout the region and for generations to come,” Reed said.
Reed was first elected to represent the 29th District of New York in a special election held in 2010. Reed took office during the “lame duck” session of the 111th Congress and began his own full two-year term in the 112th Congress in 2011. Reed was re-elected in 2012 in the new 23rd District, which he still serves today.