Political Quotes

“I am proud to join the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky) in support of this amendment. As thousands of American steelworkers have sadly discovered, the U.S. has become the world's steel dumping ground. During the 1998 steel crisis, steel imports into the United States exceeded steel exports by 36 million tons. The trade deficit in steel was $11.7 billion, accounting for about 7 percent of our continually growing overall trade imbalance. The vast majority of these imports were subsidized by foreign governments and dumped at below-market prices in the United States. Congress must respond. One immediate step we must take is protect the retirement benefits that these workers have earned. To encourage needed reorganization and consolidation of the domestic steel industry, a Steel Industry Legacy Relief Program should be created to provide assistance to steel producers in meeting retiree health care costs. This amendment establishes such a program, offering assistance equal to 80 percent of the total expenditures made to meet steel retiree health care liabilities.”