Political Quotes

“I would like to announce my support of House Resolution 598, introduced by Mr. Traficant. I am pleased that today Members have an opportunity to vote on a tough, reasonable House Resolution addressing this issue. The leadership has been negotiating almost around the clock with the Clinton administration on the budget, so I appreciate their attention to this also very important matter of aiding the U.S. steel industry. With all the budget talks going on, why have we members of the Congressional Steel Caucus pressed so hard for a vote on steel in these last days of the session? It is because the U.S. steel industry is in a crisis. It is too late to make leisurely proposals as if we were addressing a problem of the future. The problem is NOW; orders to U.S. steel companies are at 50% of normal NOW; families are out of work NOW. Some oppose a one-year ban on certain foreign steel products and say that such an action is too strong. Consider these two facts: (1) U.S. companies wishing to file a trade petition about dumping must first spend six months gathering data so that their case will be taken seriously; (2) there is approximately six months of foreign steel currently piled up in ports from Alabama to Maryland to Ohio. Voting yes on this resolution is the very least we should do as Members of Congress to help a U.S. industry which is unfairly being sacrificed in the name of global stability. I have said before and say again--it is wrong to kill U.S.…”