Lucille Roybal-Allard: “I greatly appreciate the past support of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related…”

“I greatly appreciate the past support of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies for programs that assist communities and industries adversely impacted by foreign trade, communities such as those in my own district where the textile and apparel industry has taken a significant hit from foreign competition over the last decade. This has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs to Mexico, China, and other countries. The National Textile Center, administered by the Department of Commerce, helps to counter the negative impact of foreign competition through research that supports state-of-the-art manufacturing in our domestic textile and apparel industry. Incredibly, the University of California, with an internationally recognized textile science program, is not a member of the National Textile Center consortium. As a result, it has been unable to obtain grants from the National Textile Center for its important research. What makes the exclusion of the University of California even more surprising is the fact that California is the second largest textile- and apparel-producing State in the Nation, the leading manufacturer of apparel in the United States, having produced $13 billion worth of goods last year alone. And nationally, California is the largest employer in the apparel and textile trade, employing over 144,000 Californians.”