On the recordOctober 5, 2011
I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act. The cement industry is in its weakest economic condition since the 1930s. Domestic demand for cement has dropped by more than 35 percent in the last 4 years, killing more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs. In March of last year, 136 cement workers were laid off at the Wampum cement plant in my district. It was the oldest continuously operating Portland cement manufacturing site in the United States, but now cement production at Wampum has ceased and only 15 jobs remain. Despite this bleak scenario, the EPA issued its regulation which has a $3.4 billion price tag and standards that no cement plant in the United States can achieve while demand languishes. The economy will have to improve for these jobs to return to Wampum; but when the EPA issues unfair, unachievable regulations, it sets these manufacturers back even further. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
