; manufacturing-related activities are scattered in several agencies in the executive branch. (3) Manufacturing employment, output, and exports are impacted by tax policies, the state of infrastructure and transportation, small business regulations, environmental regulations, trade policies, innovation ecosystems, workforce development, and education initiatives, with national security implications. (4) Manufacturers account for 12 percent of the total gross domestic product output in the United States, employing 9 percent of the workforce. Total output from manufacturing is more than 2 trillion dollars. There are more than 12 million manufacturing employees in the United States, with an average annual compensation of about $80,000. (5) Legislative policies and executive actions often result in unintended, inconsistent, and conflicting outcomes with respect to the growth of manufacturing in the United States. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that a well-designed national manufacturing strategy would benefit the United States economy in several important ways: (1) A revitalized manufacturing sector would enable the United States to derive more of its economic growth from exports and domestic production than the United States has in the past two decades. (2) Average domestic wages would rise in response to growing manufacturing output, as manufacturing jobs historically have paid higher wages and benefits than nonmanufacturing jobs. (3) A growing manufacturing sector would help lay a foundation for future United States economic growth, since manufacturing industries perform the vast share of private-sector research and development, which fuels the innovation that serves as a primary engine of economic growth. (4) The United States would expand its long-standing leadership in advanced manufacturing technologies with Federal investments in manufacturing research and development, education, and workforce training. (5) There has always been a strong connection between domestic manufacturing and