John Spratt: “I rise in support of the textile enforcement initiative contained in the Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill for…”

“I rise in support of the textile enforcement initiative contained in the Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill for fiscal year 1997. This bill includes $18 million earmarked to the Customs Service for enforcement of textile and apparel trade laws, along with other trade enforcement measures. Customs is to use these funds to pay for 186 full-time-equivalent employees, 100 of whom are dedicated to the enforcement of textile and apparel trade laws. Both the fiscal year 1995 and fiscal year 1996 appropriations bills contained the same textile enforcement initiative. This funding keeps faith with a pledge the Clinton administration made to 12 Representatives 2 years ago. We asked the President to commit these resources because textile and apparel trade restrictions seem to be honored more in the breach than in the enforcement. Customs has estimated that as much as $4 billion in textile/apparel imports may enter this country each year illegally, as a result of transshipping. This is a multibillion dollar problem which may mean a loss of up to 100,000 textile and apparel jobs.”