[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 25 (Thursday, February 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       MISCELLANEOUS TRADE AND TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT OF 1999

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MICHAEL N. CASTLE

                              of delaware

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 1999

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 435, the 
``Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 1999''. This 
bill is one of the most closely scrutinized pieces of legislation that 
ever comes to the House floor. Numerous agencies review its provisions 
to make sure they duty suspensions it contains do not prejudice any 
domestic producers of a good. This pre-legislative scrutiny is the main 
reason similar omnibus trade bills pass the Congress and are signed by 
the President without controversy.
  This legislation is intended to reduce consumers' cost of important 
products. These include cancer-fighting drugs and organic substances 
that can substitute for other chemicals which are more harmful to the 
environment. I am the sponsor of several of the duty suspension 
provisions in this bill, including Resmethrin, used in an 
environmentally sensitive home and garden pesticide that controls 
flying and crawling insects. In addition, I sponsored a duty suspension 
for Diclofop-methyl, a herbicide for wheat and barley. Unlike many 
other herbicides, Diclofop-methyl does not need to be tilled into the 
soil, which promotes soil conservation.
  Thidiazuron is another useful chemical included in this legislation. 
It is a defoliant that causes green bolls to drop to the ground 
enabling cotton pickers to harvest clean whit cotton with a green stain 
that reduces the value of the crop. It also shed immature bolls which 
are often the host sites for boll weevil infestation, a major threat to 
cotton production. Again, it is environmentally superior to other 
cotton defoliants because it requires less active ingredient than other 
chemicals to provide the same result. AgrEvo, the Delaware company that 
manufactures the defoliant, packages it in a water soluble bag in order 
to reduce exposure of the chemical to the skin of farmers and farm 
workers who apply it.
  Also included in a duty suspension for Deltamethrin, an 
environmentally safer pesticide used to kill fire ants, fleas, roaches, 
and ticks. Without these duty suspensions, not only would products cost 
more, but foreign producers of the product who do not have to pay 
tariffs on their ingredients would have an advantage over American 
producers. That means hundreds of fewer jobs for Delawareans and 
thousands of other U.S. citizens.
  In order to make cancer-fighting drugs more affordable, promote a 
cleaner environment, and protect American jobs, I encourage every 
Member to support this bill and move it quickly to the Oval office for 
President Clinton's signature.

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