[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 177 (Thursday, November 15, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE ALL-AMERICAN HOLIDAY BILL

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                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2007

  Mr. HUNTER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and encourage 
Americans to come together this holiday season and protect the greatest 
economy the world has ever seen. The American economic experiment that 
started back in the early 20th Century has proved that freedom, 
innovation and individual drive have the ability to create a prosperous 
economy. Our economy has enabled us to build a democracy that so many 
nations seek to emulate. Yet I am sad to report that many families, 
particularly in the mid-west, which is the back-bone of America, are 
losing manufacturing jobs to countries with less stringent regulatory 
systems and cheaper labor.
  Madam Speaker, the holidays are upon us and I am troubled by the 
difficulty to buy American-made goods in my holiday shopping quest. 
Americans should be able to purchase products that are made by 
Americans. For many years, I have had concerns over the decrease in 
American manufacturing jobs and the increase in our trade with China, 
who sends us unsatisfactory goods that are harmful to our families and 
children.
  Today, I am introducing an important resolution that fulfills what I 
believe to be one of our most important obligations as patriotic 
Americans: encouraging Americans to purchase American-made products 
this holiday season.
  China is the second largest supplier of consumer products and an 
increasingly dependent supplier of agricultural products to the United 
States. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated that to 
date, in 2007, over 80 percent of CPSC recall notices have involved 
Chinese-made products.
  Specifically, over the past year, pet food laced with chemicals found 
in fertilizer caused the sickness and death of several dozen pets in 
the United States. The Food and Drug Administration released warnings 
on toothpaste products from China that contained poisonous chemicals, 
as well as farm-raised fish products that contained uncertified 
antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration issued a recall of nearly 450,000 tires suspected to 
have major safety defects. Since March 2007, nearly 20 million Chinese 
made toys have been recalled by U.S. companies due to suspected lead 
contamination.
  It is clear that China's irresponsible regulatory system is not 
sufficient to keep the citizens of their trading partners safe. In fact 
they are not able to provide safe products for their own people. In 
June 2004, the Chinese People's Daily reported that fake baby formula 
had killed 50 to 60 infants in China. Fish farmers in China reportedly 
feed various drugs to the fish to help keep them alive in polluted 
Chinese waters, and in July 2007, the Xinhua News Agency reported that 
a government survey of 7,200 different products from nearly 6,500 
enterprises found that 19.1 percent of products made in China for 
domestic consumption in the first half of 2007 were substandard.

  I call on my colleagues to join me in supporting the U.S. economy 
and, in turn, our Armed Forces, by purchasing American products. One of 
the best things we can do for our returning soldiers is to make sure 
they have good jobs when they return. Buying American-made products 
will keep good manufacturing jobs available for our soldiers when they 
return home. I understand how difficult it will be to purchase all 
American food and gifts during the holiday season. However, for the 1.8 
million American jobs that have been shipped overseas, for the future 
jobs that are in jeopardy of being lost to cheaper labor and, of 
course, for the troops serving our country overseas, I ask you to buy 
for America this holiday season.

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