[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5750]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             RURAL JOB LOSS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 30, 2004

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, today the Congressional Rural Caucus held a 
forum on job losses in rural America. This is a critical issue in my 
district and in rural districts across the country. I would like to 
submit my comments on this issue for the Record.
  I represent Michigan's 1st congressional district--the most rural 
district in Michigan. My constituents are all too familiar with job 
loss. Michigan has an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent--well over the 
national average. There are areas in my district where the unemployment 
rate actually exceeds 12 percent. 12 percent!
  Since January 2001, 2.8 million manufacturing jobs have been lost 
across the country, 128,900 in Michigan alone. That is a loss of 1 out 
of every 6 factory jobs. In Michigan manufacturing is the engine of 
economic growth for our state--so you can see why the impact of rural 
job loss has been particularly devastating.
  Manufacturing jobs seem to be heading out of Michigan to Mexico in 
droves. Recently, a refrigerator manufacturer, Electrolux, announced it 
is closing its doors and relocating to Mexico, costing us another 2,700 
Michigan jobs. And just yesterday, Johnson Controls Inc., an automotive 
supplier in Holland, Michigan, announced its plans to move almost 900 
jobs to Mexico.
  We all know the problem, but what about a solution? We need to fix 
our international tax law that gives incentives to companies for 
shipping jobs overseas through tax credits and tax deferrals.
  We need to fully fund programs like the Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership that has successfully helped small manufacturers to 
modernize and stay competitive in the global marketplace. This program 
is essential to rural economic growth. But the Administration has 
proposed cutting it by 60 percent. That makes no sense when this 
country is hemorrhaging jobs.
  For example, I know that MEP has directly helped a number of 
companies in my district including Jacquart Fabric Products with 100 
workers in Ironwood.
  Last year, my Democratic colleagues from Michigan and I proposed the 
H.E.L.P initiative to assist in turning the economy around and getting 
people back to work. H.E.L.P focuses on employee healthcare and pension 
issues, as well as leveling the international playing field, and 
supporting partnerships with states, businesses, and employees which 
promote research and development.
  In many of the communities in my district, hospitals and schools are 
among the largest employers. We need to keep hospitals open, and 
attract health care providers. We need to provide our rural schools 
with much needed tools such as broadband access and Internet classes. 
We need to attract small businesses. And we need to expand services for 
our seniors and veterans.
  Unfortunately, I don't believe that the current budget proposals 
recently passed by the House and Senate are going to help get the 8 
million jobless in our country back to work. We have a lot of work to 
do to jump start the economy.
  I am glad the voices of our rural communities are being heard today. 
I look forward to hearing your recommendations on how to best address 
the problem of job loss in rural America.

                          ____________________