President Barack Obama today will visit Master Lock Company LLC's Milwaukee production plant, where he plans to call on companies to promote more investments and more jobs in the United States.
"Right now we have an excellent opportunity to bring manufacturing back, but we have to seize it," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery. "My message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed."
Obama will salute Master Lock as an American manufacturer that is "insourcing," or bringing jobs back to the United States from foreign countries.
Obama also planned to announce that the U.S. Commerce Department will conduct its first annual SelectUSA Investment Summit, which will bring companies in to meet with governors, mayors and others to discuss ways of promoting investments in the United States.
Meanwhile, Congressional negotiators reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to extend a payroll tax cut through the end of the year and renew unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. The measure could to Obama for his signature later this week.
Obama said the cut in the Social Security payroll tax - amounting to about $40 per paycheck for the average American worker - is vital to keeping the economy on the right path.
"Congress needs to extend that tax cut - along with vital insurance lifelines for folks who've lost their jobs during this recession - and they need to do it now, without drama and without delay," Obama said. "No ideological sideshows to gum up the works. No self-inflicted wounds. Just pass this middle-class tax cut."
In a change of plans, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said this morning he will not accompany Obama on his visit to Master Lock's Milwaukee plant.
Sources said Walker has been suffering from a stomach virus that has been circulating throughout the Capitol this week. He also cancelled a scheduled appearance at the Milwaukee Rotary Club on Tuesday.
However, Walker did plan to greet Obama upon his arrival at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee this morning.
For live coverage of Obama's visit, go to www.wisn.com, a media partner of BizTimes.
Obama tours Master Lock plant in Milwaukee
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