[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 55 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SUPPORT MAINTAINING CURRENT DOMESTIC SOURCING STANDARDS

  (Mr. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, as we envision the American soldier of 
the future, we imagine that soldier with state-of-the-art equipment, 
weapons, and training. Would it surprise us to see that soldier wearing 
a uniform made of Chinese fabric assembled in Taiwan? Would it trouble 
us to imagine him in the trenches wearing a helmet cast from German 
steel and eating rations imported from Sweden? Does it shock us to 
learn that the Department of Defense wants Congress to allow the 
purchasing of foreign materials and food for American soldiers?
  With apologies to my fellow Ohioan, let me say, Mr. Speaker, we 
should all be beamed up on this one.
  I plan to see that American soldiers are not clothed and fed by 
foreign companies and that the Department of Defense's Buy American 
laws are not circumvented with slick legislative language. I urge every 
Member of this body to join me and my colleague from New Jersey (Mr. 
LoBiondo) in cosponsoring the Strickland-LoBiondo resolution to 
maintain current domestic sourcing standards.

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