Jeffery Green: Congressional Members Should Back Defense Industrial Base Through Bipartisan Cooperation

Jeffery Green, president of Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm J.A. Green & Co., has said lawmakers should advance bipartisan cooperation to support the defense industrial base.

Green wrote in a Defense News commentary published Friday about the non-security benefits of the Defense Production Act of 1950 and other industrial base initiatives.

“For instance, a strong defense-industrial base expands opportunities by assisting women and minority-owned businesses to establish a presence in the market, diversifying local economies across the U.S. and indirectly sustaining a large number of jobs outside of the defense industry,” he noted.

He said the gaps identified in the defense industrial base report and mine permitting reform provide Congress an opportunity to pursue bipartisan action in support of the industrial base.

“In conclusion, both Democrats and Republicans have common ground in the area of industrial-base policy and should seek to cooperate to advance their goals,” wrote Green, who previously worked at the Department of Defense and the House Armed Services Committee.

“This cooperation should include commitments from both sides to not intentionally create legislative gridlock in order to advance partisan political agendas that stand little chance of becoming law.”