Bush Manufacturing Pick In Peril

The Bush administration abruptly postponed the announcement that a Nebraska businessman was its choice for a new post to help the country's beleaguered manufacturing sector.

The postponement came Wednesday after Democrat John Kerry had derided the job as "too little, too late" for the industry and his presidential campaign noted that the expected nominee had set up a manufacturing operation in China.

A Commerce Department news conference to introduce President Bush's choice on Thursday was scrubbed, according to a news release from Secretary Don Evans' office, because of scheduling conflicts. It was not clear when the appointment would be announced.

While the administration did not publicly identify the nominee, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said in a statement that it was Tony Raimondo, chairman and chief executive officer of Behlen Manufacturing Co., based in Columbus, Neb.

Behlen is a medium-sized manufacturing company with four plants in the United States. It employs more than 1,000 workers. A company spokesman said Raimondo was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Raimondo, who serves on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, has talked openly about his decision to set up a joint-operation with a Chinese company to run a factory in China, saying he needed to do it to compete more effectively for business in that market.

Kerry, in a statement from his campaign, said the decision to fill the new job of assistant secretary for manufacturing was "the last gasp of air from a failed administration" that has presided over the loss of more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs.

"Mr. President, putting another bureaucrat in the Department of Commerce isn't going to get people back to work," Kerry said. "This is like the quarterback losing late in the fourth quarter promising he can turn the game around by hiring a new water boy."

The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said Raimondo's decision to set up a factory in China was another example of the shifting of American jobs overseas.

Mr. Bush used a Labor Day speech last year to announce the new post, saying the assistant secretary would be the administration's point person in putting in place a plan to bolster manufacturing in the United States.

An administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied that the decision to postpone the announcement was related to the Democratic criticism. The official said Raimondo was "definitely under consideration" for the post.

Jerry Jasinowski, president of the manufacturers association, said Raimondo was a "great choice" for the post and that it was unfair to accuse him of outsourcing American jobs.

"He is a gutsy manufacturing entrepreneur," Jasinowski said. "His firm competes and excels in the United States and around the world."