Cord Byrd: “In 1999, I helped enact the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Program to give American steel companies in difficult…”

“In 1999, I helped enact the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Program to give American steel companies in difficult financial circumstances ready access to capital to enable them to restructure their operations, improve their productivity, and ensure a future for their hard-working employees. For more than 4 years, this program has successfully granted Federal loan guarantees to companies like Hannah Steel in Fairfield, AL, and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation in my home State of West Virginia. Without the benefit of these Federal loan guarantees, it is almost certain that these companies would have gone out of business. Today, however, they are vibrant companies continuing to support thousands of workers, their families, and entire communities. The fiscal year 2004 omnibus appropriations bill has included a 2-year extension of the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Program, which otherwise would have expired on December 31, 2003.”