[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 58 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4134-S4135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STEEL TRADE POLICY

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I am very concerned about some actions 
that were taken yesterday. Guess what. On May 8, the administration 
issued its statement of administration policy on the trade bill. I was 
looking forward to that because I thought George Bush was a friend of 
the American steel industry. I was absolutely shocked to read that 
policy and find out the administration opposes the provision to provide 
a safety net for American steel retirees. I was shocked because just a 
few months ago, President Bush stood up for steel when he issued those 
temporary steel tariffs, and I thought we could count on him now as we 
were working our way through the Trade Adjustment Act.
  I was taken aback to hear the opposition to the amendment that 
Senator Rockefeller and I have, that provides a very modest temporary 
bridge to help steel retirees keep their health benefits until we can 
work out a larger compromise.
  This statement is terrible. It abandons the steelworkers. It abandons 
steel retirees. It is just plain wrong. We do need steel and we do need 
steelworkers. They are suffering at the hands of unfair trade 
competition, and George Bush's own administration helped us document 
that. That is what is so breathtaking.
  On one hand we have done it, and then on the other hand we said even 
though steel companies are in bankruptcy because of unfair trade 
practices, we will not help the steelworker retirees keep their health 
benefits.
  I am fighting for American steel, those steelworkers and those 
retired steelworkers who, after years of hard work, believed that by 
working down in the mills they would have security for their families 
in retirement. Those widows who sent their husband off to the mills 
every day, like Bethlehem Steel in my own hometown, with pride and love 
and a lunch bucket thought that they could count on their pension and 
their health care.
  These are the true victims of years of unfair trade practices. Year 
after year, we debate trade and people say: Well, I am for fair trade. 
I don't know when trade gets fair. I just never know when trade is 
going to get fair. I have been a Member of the U.S. Congress for 25 
years and I have never seen a trade deal that came out fair yet.
  What are the consequences of that? People losing their pensions, 
people losing their health care, and people losing their jobs--this is 
unfair trade. People have been injured by these practices and I want to 
help them.
  I heard the stories of my steelworkers and the retirees. I have been 
to the rallies. I have been to the meetings. I have been down to the 
union halls. I even held a hearing on this topic. I heard their stories 
about their fear of losing their health care and their pensions.
  I met, at my hearing, Gertrude Misterka. She is a woman my own age, 
from my own hometown of Baltimore, who is terrified she is going to 
lose her health care. Her husband Charlie died 5 years ago. He worked 
at Bethlehem Steel for 35 years. He was loved by his wife, a friend to 
his fellow steelworkers. He is greatly missed.
  The Misterkas thought that after 35 years of working at Bethlehem 
Steel, they would have a secure future. Charlie thought his wife would 
be taken care of even after his death. He was a good, kind guy.
  Let me tell you about her. She has diabetes, high blood pressure, and 
asthma. She pays $78 a month for her health care premium. Even with 
this coverage she pays $100 monthly for her prescriptions.
  But let me tell you, because of being a diabetic, because of having 
complications around diabetes, guess what her prescription drug bill is 
every year: $6,716.16. You tell me what is going to happen to her if 
she loses her health insurance.
  Oh, yes, let's give somebody a tax credit or a voucher to go into the 
private market. You tell me how Gertrude, at age 65, with diabetes and 
all the complications, is going to go shopping. Medicare Choice has 
already collapsed. HMOs are not of any value to her. Nobody will take 
her because of her preexisting condition.
  Listen, we have to do something to help her and to help all others 
like her. I promised that I would fight to help her keep her health 
care. Families who worked hard for America and spent all those years at 
backbreaking work should be able to count on us.
  These costs will only go up as prescription drug costs continue to 
skyrocket.
  I listened to Mrs. Misterka that day, and my heart went out to her 
and all the women like her. I promised her that I would fight to help 
current and retired steelworkers and their families--families that need 
a safety net so they don't lose their healthcare overnight if their 
companies go under; families who worked hard for America, some for 
nearly 50 years of back-breaking work in the hot mills and the cold 
mills; and families that now need our help.
  America's steel industry is in crisis. American steel companies are 
filing for bankruptcy protection--31 since 1997, including 17 in the 
last year alone.
  Steel mills are shutting down. In the last year, at least 40 mills 
and related facilities have been shut down or idled. The closed mills 
represent nearly one-fifth of America's steelmaking capacity.
  Steelworkers are losing their jobs. Nearly 47,000 steelworkers have 
lost their jobs since 1998, including about 30,000 in the last year 
alone. We now have less than half as many steelworkers as we did in 
1980. Most of these jobs are gone for good.
  The cause of this crisis is well-known. Unfair foreign competition 
has brought American steel to its knees. Foreign steel companies are 
subsidized by their governments, and they dump excess steel into 
America's open market at fire sale prices.
  This isn't rhetoric. This is fact.
  Last year, the International Trade Commission unanimously found that 
``a substantial part of the industry is being injured by increased 
imports'' under section 201 of the Trade Act.
  As Commerce Secretary Evans said last June:

       For over 50 years, foreign governments have distorted the 
     market through subsidies of their steel industries.

  The Russian Government keeps about 1,000 unprofitable steel plants 
open through subsidies. South Korea has nearly doubled its production 
capacity since 1990 without the domestic demand to support the 
increase.
  Millions of tons of foreign steel are sold in the United States every 
year below the cost of production to keep these subsidized foreign 
mills in business.
  America's steel industry is under siege and has been under siege for 
decades. They've been fighting an uphill battle against competitors 
that don't play by the rules.
  The true cost of foreign steel sold at ``bargain'' prices is lost 
American jobs, is broken promises to American workers, and threats to 
American security.
  Why is steel important?
  Steel built America, the railroads and bridges that keep our country 
connected, the cars and trucks and buses and trains that make our 
Nation move, the buildings where we live and work and shop and worship, 
and the ships, tanks and weapons that we need during times of war. Yet 
saving steel is not an exercise in nostalgia.
  President Bush said:

       Steel is an important jobs issue, it is also an important 
     national security issue.

  I couldn't agree more.
  The distinguished ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and 
of its Defense subcommittee, Senator Stevens, recently made this point 
eloquently here on the Senate floor:

       During World War II, he said, `we produced steel for the 
     world. We produced the steel for

[[Page S4135]]

     the allies. We rebuilt Europe. We built the tanks in the 
     United States, and the planes and the ships that saved the 
     world.' Could we do it again?

  That is a serious question.
  Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point plant near Baltimore recently 
produced the steel plate to repair the USS Cole. It is the only mill in 
America that still produces the armor plate for Navy ships.
  America must never become dependent on foreign suppliers--like Russia 
and China--for the steel we need to defend our nation and freedom 
around the world. But we are headed in that direction. Already, the 
United States is one of the few steel-producing countries that is a net 
importer of steel.
  America imported more than 30 million tons of steel last year.
  President Bush took an important first step to help America's steel 
industry by imposing broad temporary tariffs on imported steel.
  I was disappointed that the tariffs are 30 percent or less--phased 
out over the 3 years they are in effect rather than 40 percent tariffs 
for 4 years the steel industry and steelworkers sought. I was 
disappointed that the tariffs don't cover slab steel. But I appreciate 
the President's action under section 201.
  Tariffs are an important step to give America's steel industry a 
chance to restructure and recover with some protection from the deluge 
of below-cost foreign steel, but they are not the only step needed to 
help American steel.
  The tariffs help the industry. Now it is time to help the workers and 
retirees who will lose their healthcare if their companies go under.
  The Daschle amendment provided a temporary 1-year extension of health 
benefits to qualified steel retirees.
  The health care extensions for steel retirees are similar to TAA 
health care benefits for workers who lose their jobs as a result of 
trade agreements. Workers could have 2 years of health care benefits. 
Retirees would only have 1 year of benefits.
  Just like the temporary tariffs give the companies breathing room to 
recover, a temporary extension of benefits give workers and retirees 
breathing room to find a long-term plan. It gives them time to plan--
time that the workers and retirees of LTV didn't have. They lost their 
benefits overnight.
  Supporting producers is in the national interest. The policy of our 
Government is to support producers when it is in the national interest. 
National interest means national responsibility. It is important to 
support farmers to make sure we have the producers to be food-
independent.
  I am happy to stand up for our farmers whether they are chicken 
producers on the Eastern Shore or corn growers in the Midwest.
  We spend about $19 billion a year on farmers--$656 billion over the 
past 10 years. This does not include $17 billion in emergency 
appropriations for our farmers, and it looks like these subsidies are 
increasing.
  Congress passed a $100 billion farm bill. The President said he will 
sign it. It calls for a $73 billion increase in farm subsidies over the 
next 6 years.
  This farm bill includes a $3 billion subsidy for peanuts, up to 
$30,000 per farmer for livestock subsidies, and a $3 billion subsidy 
for cotton.
  Since 1996, we have provided over $5 billion for cotton producers--
three-quarters of those funds went to just 18,000 farmers. I love 
cotton. It is the fabric of our lives. But cotton is not more important 
than steel.
  I have supported aid to farmers. So have most of the opponents of 
steel. I would ask them why. Why do farmers get bail-out after bail-
out, yet our steel workers can't get this modest help?
  Farmers work hard, but no harder than steelworkers. Farmers provide 
vital commodities. So do steelworkers. Our Nation must never be 
dependent on foreign food, and it must never be dependent on foreign 
steel.
  It is not just farmers. Congress gave the airlines $15 billion after 
September 11 because of a national emergency. That was the right thing 
to do. Now, we need to stand up for steel.
  Make no mistake, this is a national emergency for steel. Standing up 
for steel is in the national interest just like farmers, just like 
airlines.
  I was moved by the stories of Mrs. Misterka and others at the hearing 
a few weeks ago as was everyone in the hearing room. I feel very close 
to these workers and retirees. I grew up down the road from the Beth 
Steel mill in Baltimore. My dad had a grocery store that he opened 
extra early so the steelworkers on the morning shift could come in and 
buy their lunch. The workers at Beth Steel weren't units of production, 
they were our neighbors. They are our neighbors.
  And what did we know about the Bethlehem Steel Plant? It was a union 
job with good wages and good benefits so our neighbors could go to 
work, put in an honest day, and get fair pay back to raise their 
families and pursue the American dream.
  We were all proud of our workers at Bethlehem Steel. In World War II 
and Vietnam they rolled gun barrels, made steel for grenades, provided 
steel for the shipyards that turned out Liberty ships very 3 weeks. 
Today, Beth Steel made the steel plates to repair the USS Cole after 
the terrorist bombing damaged the ship.
  Most of Beth Steel workers are Beth Steel workers for their entire 
careers--30, 40, 50 years on the job, every day despite the aches and 
pains, the bad back, the varicose veins that age steelworkers beyond 
their years. Their commitment to Beth Steel is a commitment to America 
doing the work that needs to get done for fair pay and a secure future. 
The futures that once looked secure are now at risk through no fault of 
their own. It is time we stand up for steelworkers and help them in 
their time of need just like they helped America every step of the way.
  This is not the end of the story. I will continue to fight for 
America's steel workers.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Maryland for 
accommodating both Senator Lott and me as we talk about the current 
circumstances involving the pending legislation.
  Let me also say how much I share her point of view. Maybe I am not 
able to demonstrate the same passion as Senator Mikulski has indicated, 
the strength of feeling that she has about the issue involving her 
steelworker retirees--but I certainly share her conviction.

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