Max Baucus: “today I begin a series of statements about a place that is very special to me, the city of Butte, MT. These statements…”

“today I begin a series of statements about a place that is very special to me, the city of Butte, MT. These statements will focus on Butte's economy, its people, its quality of life, and other special attributes of Butte. I will begin today by discussing the recent history of Butte's economy. Butte, MT, is 1 of 13 communities across the Nation under consideration for a new microchip manufacturing plant to be constructed by Micron Technologies. Now, Butte and Micron may seem to have little in common; after all, why would one of the Nation's leading high-technology companies want to set up a shop in an old western mining town like Butte? Yet, if you scratch just below the surface, Butte and Micron have a lot in common. Thanks to the basic American values of hard work, patriotism, ingenuity, competitiveness, both Butte and Micron have grown and prospered over the past 10 years. And Micron has done this without shipping jobs overseas. Many of their managers have told me, with great and justifiable pride, that their corporate philosophy is to grow jobs not overseas but in America. It is exactly that kind of loyalty that has helped the people of Butte rebuild their economy after the loss of the largest employer more than a decade ago.”