James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, I am for free trade, fairly conducted. Steel? Why steel? Because it is the most versatile building material…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am for free trade, fairly conducted. Steel? Why steel? Because it is the most versatile building material of an industrial society. It is vital to a nation's progress, both here and abroad. Twenty years ago when steel was under assault, we were told then by the free-traders, the unlimited, no-holds-barred free-traders, you are old, outmoded and inefficient; you ought to modernize. That is why foreign steel is coming into this country. Today, 350,000 jobs fewer, $50 billion more invested in the steel industry and an efficient industry that produces the best steel in the world, we are now told, oh, you are trying to draw a moat around the industry. All we are trying to do is tell the Federal Government, enforce the laws that set forth the conditions for free and fair trade. The previous speaker said, why has the Clinton Administration done nothing? Well, we asked the same question in 1981 of the Reagan Administration; because there are free-traders in both administrations that say no-holds-barred, play by the Marquis of Queensberry rules, while our adversaries are using black-belt karate. It is time to stand up for steel.”