Cord Byrd: “in these waning days and hours of the 106th Congress, the focus in Washington is naturally on what action is taking…”

“in these waning days and hours of the 106th Congress, the focus in Washington is naturally on what action is taking place to resolve the remaining fiscal year 2001 appropriations bills and concluding the business of this Congress. However, all around us, life goes on. Our constituents in the steel industry must be among the few in America who will not be happy to see the 106th Congress adjourn sine die. Our constituents in the steel industry will see Congress's adjournment as a thinning of the bucket brigade that has spent the last two years trying to bail out an industry being flooded by cheap, illegally dumped steel. These people, our constituents from Weirton and Wheeling, West Virginia, from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Alabama, Maryland, Utah--their arms are tired, their voices hoarse from the effort of keeping their heads above water and shouting for help. As we look forward to adjournment, they are continuing to face a flood whose undertow threatens to pull them under. Today, as a result of this continuing crisis in steel, imports make up almost 40 percent of the U.S. market, compared to a historical rate of approximately 18 percent. Congress has tried to respond. Members have supported individual companies and groups in filing trade cases with the Administration, attempting to use our anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws as they were intended, to thwart illegal actions by foreign competitors.…”