In a press release, the National Association of Manufacturers (10/29) announced that former Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and George Allen (R-VA) will co-chair the Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative, an effort aimed at examining and highlighting the competitiveness challenges facing manufacturers. Among the first challenges Sens. Lincoln and Allen will take on are the impact of unnecessarily burdensome regulations on manufacturers. Allen said, “Our regulatory system is too often incoherent, unaccountable and in desperate need of reform.” Lincoln said, “We can do better as a nation. To unleash the creative spirit of America’s entrepreneurs, we need a commonsense regulatory system that encourages innovation and investment.” Lincoln also said, “An American economy with a simple and streamlined regulatory system would be the envy of the world.”