Maurice Hinchey: “I would like to say a word on this resolution because I think the issue that is raised is critically important to the…”

“I would like to say a word on this resolution because I think the issue that is raised is critically important to the Members of this House and to the people of this country, and it is one that we ought to have a full and complete debate on. The reason I say that is in recognition of the statements that have been made just a few moments ago with regard to the impact that the dumping of steel is having on congressional districts and the people in those congressional districts, the workers in those congressional districts and their families across the country. This is an aggravated symptom of a much larger problem however. Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a global economic crisis, and one of the features of that global economic crisis is the propensity of some nations in the world suffering the effects of deflation to attempt to dump their products, both manufactured products and commodities, on to the markets of other countries. We are in a most vulnerable position indeed to this particular activity, and we have not done nearly enough to protect our economy from the effects of this kind of dumping. One of the things that we ought to do immediately is to petition the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates substantially so that we may buttress our economy from the effects of this kind of dumping and the larger effects of the global economic crisis.”