Jay Rockefeller: “I join Senator Hollings and others as a cosponsor of the Emergency Safeguard Act of 1996, and call on the Congress to…”

“I join Senator Hollings and others as a cosponsor of the Emergency Safeguard Act of 1996, and call on the Congress to move this bill with great haste. This is vitally important to over 600 employees of Corbin Limited in West Virginia, who are facing an unprecedented threat from a surge in imports of wool suits from Canada. Those of us who opposed the North American Free-Trade Agreement [NAFTA] did not want to find ourselves with situations like this, but we certainly feared they would occur. In this case, decisive action is now needed to stand up for American workers and industries facing an unfair threat. Three years ago, when explaining my vote against the NAFTA, I pointed to the disparities between the economies of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, as a primary reason for opposing the trade agreement. At that time, I did not think it was right to ask West Virginia and other States with fragile economies to absorb the brunt of forced integration with Mexico.”