Glenn English: “I am brought to the floor by two recent bits of news that were called to my attention, one that fills me with foreboding…”

“I am brought to the floor by two recent bits of news that were called to my attention, one that fills me with foreboding and another that fills me with hope. Yesterday, I received sad news from my district. Another local steel company, MacInnes Steel, had filed for bankruptcy, a company that has been a long partner and a long contributor in our community; a company that I visited only a few weeks ago as I traveled my district to announce my chairmanship of the Congressional Steel Caucus; a company that is progressive and in which management has been making a major capital investment; a modern steel company. This company had filed for protection under our bankruptcy laws. Their CEO called it, and I quote, ``a last resort as it struggled with the double blow of a domestic slump in the industry and surging energy costs.'' I must say this is not the first time recently this has happened in my district. Earlier this year, we received the news that an employee-owned company, Erie Forge and Steel, another long-standing institution in our community, had filed for bankruptcy. They cited a variety of reasons for this, including foreign dumping and a slow economy. The fact is, this is part of a pattern we are seeing around the country. America's steel industry is struggling. We are experiencing a steel crisis.”