will it ever happen?

THE UNITED STATES SENATE IS ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST THE MANUFACTURERS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!

The following article is my proof but the National Council of Textile Organizations is applauding the actions of the senate. I am not a member of this organization nor would I ever be since they do not represent my company which also includes me. This organization is located in Washington D.C. so in my opinion they represent the government against manufacturers like me.

NCTO Applauds Senate Passage Of National Defense Authorization Act

  Jun 27, 2019 | reprinted from sporting good business on line publication

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) on Thursday commended the Senate for passing the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2020, which strengthens the Berry Amendment by setting compliance requirements to all Department of Defense acquisitions at or above $150,000.

I have no idea of how long the dollar amount of $50,000.00 was the minimum threshold to be able to buy non-Berry compliant goods but as you can see it is now $150,000.00, but as you will read it is really $250,000.00. Commending the senate for doing something detrimental to manufacturers located in the U.S.A. and stating it strengthens the Berry Amendment is a sign of ignorance.

The Senate bill rolls back the threshold for Berry compliance requirements to 2017 levels and adjusts future increases for inflation, which the U.S. textile industry supports.

The senate should have terminated the increase; period!!!

The Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA bill raised the Simplified Acquisition Threshold to $250,000. The higher threshold put more than $50 million worth of Berry contracts annually at risk of being outsourced to China and other foreign countries.

Why are Chinese companies okay to outsource to when we are trying to reduce buying from them with higher tariffs? Aren’t we supposed to not deal with any country viewed as the enemy. Maybe the government is only telling us they are the enemy but don’t really mean it.

“We are really pleased the Senate passed the NDAA, which strengthens the Berry Amendment, a provision that is critical to the U.S. textile industry,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas.

I placed a call to Kim Glas so I could get an explanation of how this “strengthens Berry Amendment” to help me? I did get a return call from a guy who thought I was interested in joining. I told him I wasn’t but I was concerned about the bill supposedly strengthening the Berry Amendment. He said they try to get as much as they can such as the $250,000.00 reduction. That is not true at this time, the senate passed it but it has to go to house of representatives. Will they pass it, who knows at this time? We will not know until it is voted on and that may happen in September if it happens, so the $250,000.00 is still in effect now and may very well be in the next two years.

I did tell the guy the Berry Amendment threshold should be $0.00; period.

“Berry provides the U.S. military with high-quality textile and apparel products that are produced with 100% U.S. materials and labor. It also helps keep the industrial base strong and provides the best R&D, materials, and equipment for our warfighters,” Glas said. “We also urge the House to follow the Senate’s lead and take similar action to strengthen our national industrial base.”

The above comment is lip service. It contradicts everything you have read till this point. Every large investment institution that has acquired a company that gets product made in China will be able to probably skirt the 25 percent tariff because they are bringing from China product for the U.S. military. But maybe the tariffs will stay in place and they will be added to the cost of the goods and our tax dollars will pay them anyway. We may have the best r&d and materials etc. but that does not mean the products are going to be made here so our war fighters will not be getting the best they can get. Kim Glas is ignorant of reality.

“Without the Berry Amendment in place, defense-related activities are at risk if supply chains are filled with imports of undocumented origin,” said Kathie Leonard, President and CEO of Auburn Manufacturing Inc., a small manufacturer of fire-resistant fabrics based in Mechanic Falls, Maine.

Placed a call to her, so far no return call.

“Our ability to continue supplying 100 percent domestically produced products to the military is contingent upon a reasonable Berry threshold. The minimum was raised from $50,000 to $150,000 several years ago. Last year it jumped to $250,000, leaving us with only 15 percent of the defense market we serve,” Leonard said.

Maybe Miss Leonard will start importing materials from China so she can serve more than 15 percent of the market. I do not think she has a back bone and is prepared to stand up against the stupidity of government.

The Senate bill rolls back the threshold for Berry compliance requirements to 2017 levels and adjusts future increases for inflation, which the U.S. textile industry supports.

The Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA bill raised the Simplified Acquisition Threshold to $250,000. The higher threshold put more than $50 million worth of Berry contracts annually at risk of being outsourced to China and other foreign countries.

As I was told the $250,000.00 may never get rolled back.

“We are really pleased the Senate passed the NDAA, which strengthens the Berry Amendment, a provision that is critical to the U.S. textile industry,” said NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas.

The guy I spoke with knows that so far nothing has been done other than conversation.

Ashley Bullock, Government Contract Sales Manager, Raeford Uniforms, a division of Burlington Industries, said: “Passage of the NDAA along with the continued support of the Berry Amendment are critical for Burlington and our ongoing support to the U.S. military and our men and women in uniform. As a proud part of the military’s clothing and textile supply chain, Burlington Industries, an Elevate Textiles Company, relies on the Berry Amendment to maintain our current operations in North and South Carolina and our ability to make continual investment to ensure the U.S. warfighter has the most innovative, highest-quality, and technologically advanced clothing and equipment possible. Correcting the Berry Amendment’s threshold level is a major and positive step in protecting this important law from being watered down. “

I called and left a message with Ashley Bullock so I could ask how the Berry Amendment was “corrected” by this law. She also is ignorant of the fact that our warfighters are not necessarily getting the “highest-quality, and technologically advanced clothing and equipment”. She must know that so far nothing has been accomplished, as there is no new law at this time and there may never be one.

NCTO is a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers, including artificial and synthetic filament and fiber producers.

Not all of them!

• U.S. employment in the textile supply chain was 594,147 in 2018.
• The value of shipments for U.S. textiles and apparel was $76.8 billion in 2018.
• U.S. exports of fiber, textiles and apparel were $30.1 billion in 2018.
• Capital expenditures for textile and apparel production totaled $2.0 billion in 2017, the last year for which data is available.

  Wiggy’s has for many years lost business to U.S.A. based companies that have had product made off shore and mostly in China for sales to the U.S. military. What has been delivered does not perform at all. The workmanship is atrocious so the durability is non-existent. The bags can’t be laundered. Need I go on about the non-quality that American companies are so willing to deliver to our warfighters? Does it matter that these young men charged with buying equipment are ignorant of sleeping bags and are just buying based upon price and only price since that is their directive.

  Years ago (1993) when I made the very first two bag system for the Marine Corps they decided to get their own two bag system from a contractor who really knew then and still today knows nothing about sleeping bags. When I saw what they were making I advised the Marine Corps that while they had some terrific weapons for the Marine but when issued the new sleeping bags could not get a good night’s sleep and his ability to use the terrific weapon would be compromised. They did not like my opinion so they stayed with the bag that was a knock off of mine. Over the next 10/15 years their two bag system was a very successful failure. It has not been made for the last 4/5 years.

  What do they in the military think will happen when they increase their purchases of these Chinese made products that I call “no sleep sleeping bags” the grunts will not be happy campers?

  I can see my future with the military being reduced because my bags are more money versus the Chinese trash that the military is buying with our tax dollars.

  I can also see more and more individual soldiers spending their own money with Wiggy’s as has been going on for some years now.

  My last question is “who is the enemy”!!