[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STEEL INDUSTRY RELIEF

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, tomorrow legislation will be introduced 
by a coalition of bipartisan Senators--Democrats and Republicans--to 
bring some relief to the steel industry. The steel industry has been 
very, very hard hit in America. In the past two decades, steel jobs 
have declined from some 500,000 to about 150,000. Billions of dollars 
have been invested in the steel industry, and we have had a surge of 
dumped steel--that is, steel which is sold in the United States at a 
lower price than it is sold in the country of origin. Russia, with 
their economy in great distress, will sell steel at any price in the 
United States to get dollars. A similar problem has evolved, too, in 
Japan, Korea, Indonesia and other countries.
  The Senate Steel Caucus, both on the House side and the Senate side, 
has held hearings. Senator Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Steel 
Caucus, and I, in my capacity as chairman, will be introducing the 
legislation tomorrow with many Senators in support--Senator Byrd, 
Senator Santorum, and many others--as well as representatives of the 
steelworkers union and the steel industry themselves. On the House 
side, Representative Regula of Ohio, who chairs the House Steel Caucus, 
will be joining us in this legislative introduction.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

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