[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 127 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S11225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page S11225]]


                         NATIONAL HOSIERY WEEK

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, while driving to the Capitol this morning, 
I fell to thinking about what a calamity it would be if, all of a 
sudden, the hosiery manufacturing business in America were to shut 
down. How many jobs would be lost? How would the economy be affected? 
How would our country's trade balance with other countries be affected? 
And how many grandchildren would have to think of something else to put 
under the tree for Grandpa next Christmas?
  None of the above is an idle question, Mr. President, and I bring up 
the subject because next week will mark the 24th annual observance of 
National Hosiery Week. So, beginning Monday, August 7, will be a time 
to pay our respects to a great American example of free enterprise, the 
hosiery manufacturers of our Nation.
  Now, regarding some of the questions I posed at the outset of these 
remarks: Last year, 1994, the U.S. hosiery industry made significant 
increases in exports. To be precise, shipments overseas increased 34 
per cent to 240 million pairs of socks and stockings. Total U.S. 
production totaled 362 million dozen pairs--or, if you want to break it 
down, the total production comes to four billion 394 million pairs of 
hosiery. A mind-boggling number, indeed.
  We are blessed with a great many hosiery manufacturers in North 
Carolina, Mr. President. All of these companies are good corporate 
citizens--and the men and women employed in the hosiery industry are 
fine hard-working Americans. I am told that there are 455 hosiery plans 
in America, employing more than 65,000 people. Together these companies 
and these workers added more than $6 billion to the U.S. economy.
  But, Mr. President, it is in the many smaller communities where the 
hosiery industry makes its most significant contribution, because it is 
there that these companies constitute a large part of the local 
economy. In so many cases, a hosiery company is the major employer in 
the area, providing good, stable jobs for its employees.
  Mr. President, I think it was Dizzy Dean who once remarked that 
``braggin' ain't braggin', if you can prove it.'' Well, I can prove why 
National Hosiery Week is of special importance to me--it is because 
North Carolina is the leading textile and hosiery State in the Nation, 
generating more than half of the total U.S. hosiery production. I am 
proud of the leadership of the hosiery industry and the fine quality of 
life that it has provided for over 40,000 people.
  On behalf of my fellow North Carolinians, I extend my sincere 
congratulations and best wishes to the hosiery industry and to its many 
thousands of employees for their outstanding contribution to our State 
and Nation.


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