A bill that transcends politics

It’s an election year, and both sides in the highly charged Senate race in Montana are trying to make political hay out of anything that might win a vote or two.

We understand that, and for the most part we are just as frustrated as any other voters with the constant back and forth of attack advertising and the daily bombardments of press releases aimed at cutting the other guy off at the knees.

In our minds, both Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg are way better than this race has made them out to be. These are two solid Montanans who have worked long and hard to get where they are, and (despite the advertising) we don’t think either one of them is unethical — but, boy, they sure are good politicians!

One way they could prove they are also good Montanans —  and good Americans — is to put political differences aside from time to time and find common ground.

We think an opportunity for that is possible with a bill that Sen. Tester proposed last week that would require all National Park Service memorabilia sold in our national parks to be “Made in the U.S.A.”

Anyone who has bought a shirt, a book, or a paperweight in Glacier Park recently already knows that most of these souvenirs were made abroad — often in China. That’s not fair to the tourists who want to bring a piece of the American heritage home with them, and it’s not fair to our manufacturers either.

We know it’s not liable to be a highly significant bill in terms of its overall impact. Sales of memorabilia and other goods do total more than $1 billion each year, but even more valuable is the message this bill would send not just to China, but to our own manufacturers.

Just because Chinese labor is dirt cheap doesn’t mean China should be able to manufacture everything for everybody everywhere. And giving American manufacturers a preference for items sold on federal land is a small but effective way to help Americans get back to work.

Good for Sen. Tester for putting this idea on the table. Supporting our own economy is a vital national interest, and we think Rep. Rehberg should seize this opportunity to work with Sen. Tester to make sure this bill is more than a topic for a press release. They should work together to ensure that it passes and becomes law.