[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 90 (Friday, June 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5132-H5133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TIMKEN AND THE MIDDLE CLASS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell today the tale 
of two visits. President Bush last year visited Canton, Ohio, visited 
his friends at the Timken Company. John Kerry today visited Canton, 
Ohio.
  I would like to tell you a little bit about each visit. When 
President Bush came to Canton, Ohio, he came to the Timken Company, a 
fourth generation manufacturing firm in Ohio, one of George Bush's 
largest contributors. The Timken family has given and raised for 
President Bush well over $1 million over last 2 years. He came to Mr. 
Timken's plant and celebrated his program, his economic program.
  He stood at the Timken plant and bragged on Timken's workers, as he 
should have, saying that Timken employees were 10 percent more 
productive this year, he said that a year ago, this year, than the year 
before. Ten percent more productive.
  Now, a few months later Timken announced, earlier this year, that 
they had their best, their highest sales, highest quarterly sales they 
had ever had. A week after that they announced they had a 60 percent 
increase in earnings per share over the same quarter a year ago. Ten 
percent more productive workers, highest sales ever, very good earnings 
per share.
  A week later, the Timken management announced that it was closing its 
three plants in Canton, Ohio, shutting down its Ohio production, laying 
off 1,300 workers and moving the factories to China.
  Now, the President has come to Ohio time after time trying to justify 
his economic program when Ohio has been a State that has lost one-sixth 
of its manufacturing jobs. Ohio has been a State that has lost 190 jobs 
every single day of the Bush administration.
  President Bush would be the first President since Herbert Hoover to 
have lost jobs during his time in office. Yet he goes to Timken, he 
says that is the picture of the future.
  Now, the President's answer to every single piece of bad economic 
news is two-fold. First of all, the President says more tax cuts for 
the wealthiest people in society. A person making $1 million on average 
last year got a $123,000 tax cut. More tax cuts for the wealthiest 
people in our society, the largest corporations in our society, hoping 
that those tax cuts trickle down and create jobs. That is one of the 
President's answers.
  The other is more trade agreements like the North American Free Trade 
Agreement, Central American Free Trade Agreement, Free Trade Area of

[[Page H5133]]

the Americas, all of these trade agreements that continue to ship jobs, 
continue to hemorrhage jobs overseas. That has been the President's 
answer.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I will yield.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I will try to be very brief because I know 
you only have 5 minutes. I have an hour special order and I will be 
talking in a little while about this.
  I think it is important to note that you just described this sort of 
trickle down in the area of tax cuts. And it is important to know what 
you describe as trickle down in the last 9 months has created 1.4 
million new jobs right here in the United States. Month before last we 
saw the largest increase in 45 months in manufacturing jobs.
  I am very familiar with the Timken Company. I am very sympathetic and 
concerned about the issue that has just been raised on that issue.
  Similarly, if we look at the issue of trade we now enjoy a quarter of 
a trillion dollars, a quarter of a trillion dollars in trade between 
the United States of America and Mexico.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the fact is this 
quarter trillion dollars of trade we had a trade surplus with Mexico 
before NAFTA that is now a turned into a trade deficit. We had a small 
trade deficit with China when the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Dreier) came to this body and when I came to this body that is now $120 
billion trade deficit.
  The fact is we continue to have lost jobs in our State, even with 
some economic growth that has taken place in the last few months. Ohio 
and the Nation still are 2 million jobs behind what President Bush had 
when he came into office. There were 22 million jobs created during the 
Clinton administration. There is a net loss of close to 2 million jobs 
during the Bush administration.
  Now, today, Mr. Kerry came to Canton to talk about some of these same 
issues. Mr. Kerry's solutions are not more tax cuts for the richest 
people in society, the major contributors to the Republican party.

                              {time}  1515

  His solution is not more trade agreements that continue to hemorrhage 
jobs overseas. His solutions are several things.
  First of all, extend unemployment benefits to the million people who 
have lost their jobs in this country, who have tried to find work and 
have not and had their benefits expire.
  Second, expand rather than eliminate, like the President wants to do, 
the manufacturing extension program which helps small manufacturers 
figure out how to navigate the global economy.
  Third, Mr. Kerry says Congress should put a hold on trade agreements 
and go back and re-examine and look at changing the trade agreements 
that are already in effect.
  Fourth, all of us in this body say pass the Crane-Rangel bill, which 
gives incentives to those companies and rewards those companies which 
manufacture in this country, rather than the Bush tax breaks that give 
manufacturing all kinds of incentives to companies that shift jobs 
overseas.

                          ____________________