[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 163 (Thursday, November 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2179]]
             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. TED STRICKLAND

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 28, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3338) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year anding September 30, 2002, and for other purposes:

  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Chairman, as our Nation feels the effects of our 
current recession, and Congress discusses economic stimulus package, we 
must insure we do all we can for the motor which drives our economy, 
the American Worker.
  For much of the twentieth century, our great steel companies churned 
and poured out the material used to build our nation creating the 
skeletons of our battleships and skyscrapers. But since the 1990s, many 
of these once great companies have fallen victim to foreign competitors 
who dump cheap steel on the American market. This year domestic steel 
producers have been further affected by rising energy prices and a 
rising dollar exchange rate which favors foreign-based companies. More 
than two dozen U.S. steel producers have gone into bankruptcy, these 
include once giant companies such as Bethlehem, LTV, Republic and 
Wheeling Pittsburgh. Some mills have been forced to shut down entirely.
  The Strickland, Stupak, LaTourette Amendment to the Defense 
Appropriations bill will help an American industry ailing from the 
effects of globalization. Steel is a vital part of the economy of my 
State of Ohio and our nation as a whole. It ensures that none of the 
funds made available in the Defense Appropriations bill can purchase 
equipment, products or systems which contain steel not manufactured in 
the United States. As a Congress we must make sure the dollars we spend 
to protest the security of America protect the job security and 
livelihood of the American Steel worker.

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