Jay Rockefeller: “No other industry has ever gone before the ITC in the last 20 years and come out with a unanimous vote proving injury…”

“No other industry has ever gone before the ITC in the last 20 years and come out with a unanimous vote proving injury because of imports as has the steel industry. No other industry has ever been so totally and entirely neglected by the U.S. Federal Government, under Republican and Democratic leadership, allowing cartels and state-owned subsidies to simply crush our steel industry. What we are talking about, and what we are voting on, is whether steel retirees who lost the health coverage they earned because their company shut down permanently due to an import crisis should get the benefit of 1 year of health care, and only get it once. We understand that we pay for the cost, that the pay-go is taken care of. The essence of the vote is before the Senate. I further say that the Senator from Oklahoma, I am sure, misunderstands one thing: Other industries--I think he refers to the minimills--the minimills support this amendment, and we have a letter from Nucor, the largest, to so say. This is a matter of people, only 125,000. It is paid for in a tax-friendly way. I urge my colleagues to support the cloture vote.”