Congress should promptly pass legislation to help struggling New York manufacturers afford health insurance for their workers, open and expand new markets, and switch to cleaner energy production, U. S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Tuesday.

Touting the historic importance of manufacturing to the state, New York’s junior senator said support for them is critical, as the state “cannot rebuild our economy without our manufacturers.”

The Democratic lawmaker said manufacturers “powered us through the 20th century, but have been among those hardest hit by these difficult economic times.”

“New York manufacturing is the backbone of our economy, and for generations, manufacturing has defined hard work and integrity throughout our state,” Gillibrand said. But “we’ve lost more than our fair share of manufacturing jobs.”

Citing the loss of more than 160,000 manufacturing jobs in the state since 2001 — including 23,627 in Western New York — Gillibrand said lawmakers must help the companies “get back on track immediately.”

She called for allowing small firms to buy into a health insurance pool, encouraging railroads to upgrade lines, shifting manufacturers to clean energy production and strengthening the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.

“I am very, very concerned about the unemployment rates,” she said. “We need to do much more to turn around this economy and create jobs.”

U. S. unemployment hit 9.5 percent in June, as employers cut 467,000 jobs. That’s the highest rate in 26 years. And 30 percent of all jobs lost since December 2007 were in manufacturing.

Locally, unemployment rose in Buffalo Niagara to 8.3 percent in May, as employers shed 2,900 manufacturing jobs, or 5 percent of the region’s factory jobs over the last year. But Gillibrand noted that other parts of the state are suffering jobless rates as high as 15 percent.

According to Gillibrand, 52 of the state’s 62 counties show “significant loss of manufacturing jobs” since 2001, while the rest showed only “short-term, unsustainable gains.” The total job loss represented nearly one-third of New York’s manufacturing base, Gillibrand said.

“Manufacturing is very much part of the lifeblood of our economy and will remain so,” she said. “There will continue to be efficiencies created by new technologies, but there’s a lot of work that still needs oversight by people who have the skill set to work the machinery.”

Gillibrand proposed passage of:

The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Act, which would allow small businesses to buy into an insurance pool with other businesses to reduce costs. It would also offer tax credits of $1,000 for each insured employee and $2,000 per family for small businesses with up to 50 workers. Those who are self-employed would get credits of $1,800 for individuals and $3,600 for families.

Gillibrand said she hopes it can be part of President Obama’s healthcare reform plan.

Bipartisan legislation to renew the Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation Tax Credit through 2013 and expand it from $3,500 to $4,500. The state has 1,200 miles of “short-line” railroads that connect communities and companies to the country’s primary rail system and business hubs, but Gillibrand wants to “incentivize” railroad companies to upgrade their lines so more businesses can use them.

The credit has already been used locally by the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, connecting Orchard Park to Buffalo, to rehabilitate 26 miles of track, and by the South Buffalo Railway in Lackawanna to finish rebuilding the Lackawanna Yard that is critical to Ford Motor Co.’s Buffalo stamping plant. However, the credit is currently slated to expire at year-end.

The Investments for Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology (IMPACT) Act, to be introduced this week, providing $30 billion for states to form revolving loan funds to help firms retool, expand or start clean energy manufacturing.