Rep. Marcy Kaptur delivered a floor speech responding to Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Toledo, Ohio, where he spoke about the administration’s efforts to boost jobs and revive manufacturing. Kaptur said the visit stood in sharp contrast to recent federal decisions that, in her view, removed significant investment from northwest Ohio and undercut the very economic growth being promoted.
Kaptur began by expressing surprise at the vice president’s message, arguing that recent trade and funding policies have had negative effects on manufacturing employment both locally and nationwide. She cited reporting that manufacturing unemployment has risen over the past year and said higher costs tied to tariffs and trade disputes have affected workers, farmers, and consumers. According to Kaptur, rising prices for food, housing, utilities, and manufactured goods are being felt across urban and rural communities in her district.
She also addressed remarks by the vice president about lowering prescription drug costs, noting that policies aimed at reducing prices for seniors, such as insulin caps and negotiated drug prices, were enacted previously and supported by lawmakers who backed those measures at the time. She contrasted those efforts with more recent votes opposing similar initiatives.
A central focus of Kaptur’s speech was the cancellation of federal funding she said had already been approved by Congress and intended for Toledo and surrounding areas. She detailed several projects affected by those decisions, totaling nearly $150 million. Among them was $45 million designated for Libbey Glass, a company closely associated with Toledo’s identity as “the Glass City.” The funding was intended for new glass furnaces that would help the company compete globally and modernize production. Kaptur said that funding was withdrawn despite having gone through the full congressional approval process.
She also pointed to the cancellation of $57 million for another manufacturing company in Ohio and more than $16 million for a local agricultural processing facility, which she said would have helped it compete with foreign producers. Additional rescissions included roughly $28.5 million for infrastructure improvements in downtown Toledo, including road repairs near the riverfront that were planned but not completed.
Kaptur argued that these investments were not only about job creation, but also about modernizing facilities, improving worker safety, and reducing emissions through updated technology. She emphasized the physical demands of manufacturing work and said modernization efforts are essential to keeping those jobs sustainable.
The congresswoman further criticized plans to eliminate funding for the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program she said has helped launch dozens of small and mid-sized businesses in the region. She cited local food and consumer product companies that emerged with the program’s support and questioned why an initiative she described as successful would be cut.
Kaptur also said she had expected the vice president’s visit to include discussion of a $20 million federal transportation grant intended to improve connectivity in Toledo’s downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. That announcement, she noted, did not occur.
In closing, Kaptur urged the administration to release funds already approved by Congress, stressing that local taxpayers deserve to see authorized investments returned to their communities. She framed her remarks as a call to move Toledo and similar regions forward through sustained investment, rather than what she described as a pattern of reversals and funding withdrawals.
Source: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur on YouTube: “Congresswoman Kaptur Floor Speech On Vice President JD Vance Visit To Toledo Following Funding Cuts”
