AEM staff joined 55 CEOs and senior executives in Washington, D.C. to press lawmakers to pass a bipartisan farm bill, reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, and address the industry’s growing labor shortage by finding common ground on immigration reform. The 2023 AEM Washington Fly-In took place as the Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize both measures and fund the government approaches, and participants urged lawmakers to take immediate and direct action to prevent catastrophic economic harm. 

The fly-in kicked off with a series of briefings on the industry’s policy priorities and discussions about how to tell the story of the 2.3 million men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry who make the equipment that builds, powers, and feeds the world. 

U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (R-Kan.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) joined the participants to share their thoughts on the farm bill and to accept their 2023 AEM Champions of the Industry awards. The award, presented for just the third time, recognizes members of Congress from both sides of the aisle for their support of the equipment manufacturing industry and their efforts to advance bipartisan, commonsense solutions to the country’s toughest challenges. 

The next day, participants fanned out across Capitol Hill to meet with more than 90 members of Congress and senior congressional staff. Highlights from the day included meetings with Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), U.S. Representatives Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), Sam Graves (R-Mos.), Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), as well as U.S. Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cindy Hyde Smith (R-Miss.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and John Thune (R-S.D.). 

As reported by POLITICO, participants urged lawmakers to craft a bipartisan farm bill that invests in rural communities, incentivizes the adoption of precision agriculture technologies, provides vital safety net programs for farmers and ranchers, and strengthens our national food supply chain. They also reminded members of Congress that the need for sustained investment in U.S. infrastructure did not end with passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and urged them to continue to champion investments that are critical to the country’s economy, prosperity, and quality of life, including reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. 

“Equipment manufacturers came to Washington, D.C. with one objective: To raise each and every one of our policy priorities to a fever pitch…and impress upon lawmakers that the decisions made in Congress have a very real impact on the people whose job it is to build, power, and feed our country,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM senior vice president of government and industry relations. 

The AEM Advocacy Team will continue to relentlessly make the case for these and other policy priorities in conversations with lawmakers and senior congressional staff.  

For more information on how to get involved in AEM’s advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. and in state capitals across the country, please reach out to AEM’s Advocacy Team.

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