[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5022]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     QUOTES FROM OHIO AUTO WORKERS

  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out 
of order for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Kucinich said earlier, we are 
continuing our Delphi E-hearing here, which we are going to share with 
the House of Representatives and the American people, stories that have 
come from families who are being affected by the shake-up in the auto 
industry in the United States of America.
  I come from a district in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown, Akron, Warren, 
home of the original Packard car, the original Packard Electric 
Company. I would like to share a few stories and make a few comments, 
Mr. Speaker, because today not only do we have a concentration of 
Delphi employees in my district, today the local General Motors plant 
that has been in Lordstown, Ohio since the late 1960s, there was an 
announcement that 1,200 third shift employees would no longer be 
working at that facility, and it is tragic news for many, many 
families. And so we want to bring attention to the United States 
Congress and to the American people about the communities that are 
being affected and how the policies here under the big dome aren't 
exactly addressing the needs.
  Let me share with you, Mr. Speaker, a couple of stories from back 
home. This is a letter. First of all, thank you for letting me voice my 
opinion. I hope someone will actually read this. I was hired in at GM, 
Lordstown, in January of 1971, with the negotiated promise that if I 
came to work for General Motors, I could retire after 30 years of 
service. It was always said as GM goes, so goes the country. ``And I 
challenge all of you to look back and think of when you were young and 
innocent. My God, what has happened to the USA? You have the chance to 
stop this injustice, this rape of the American worker in its tracks. I 
pray that God give you the courage and wisdom to do the right thing. 
And isn't that what it is all about, doing the right thing? God help us 
all.''
  That is Stephen P. Medici in Lordstown, Ohio.
  This is William Ruppel in Cortland, Ohio. ``I was in the infantry in 
Vietnam in 1968. After going to college for a while, I was hired at 
Delphi Packard Electric in September of 1973. After working there for a 
while, we agreed in one of our contracts to an attrition. For every 
three people who retired, the company only had to replace one. This was 
to help the company's costs and to afford a decent wage. Next came the 
movement to Mexico. The jobs would first come to us. We would work out 
the kinks, and then off to Mexico they would go.
  Delphi, Packard Electric's 146,000 employees working for them outside 
the U.S. is just about exactly how many troops we have fighting in 
Iraq. Who is more important? Are these men and women who are supposedly 
fighting for democracy and fairness going to have their wages cut 60 
percent, health care and pensions cut, or maybe have no job at all? I 
was in the infantry in Vietnam in 1968 and I support and sympathize 
with these brave people.
  Do the rich ever get rich enough?''
  ``I just read where Delphi wants an extension on the 
reorganizations,'' said Charlie Stowe from Warren, Ohio. ``This is not 
fair. I want a 30-year extension on my pension.''
  ``With no support,'' this is Jean Wooler. ``I have worked for Delphi 
Packard Electric for 38 years. It has allowed me to live a good middle 
class life and to raise my daughter with no support from her father. My 
daughter is now 21 and in college. I do not live lavishly. I have a 3-
bedroom ranch and a nice car. I don't dress extravagantly. I live 
paycheck to paycheck as a single mother on the wages that I may make.''
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me just say that data has come out now 
that the Bush tax cut has lowered the tax burden on the richest people 
in this country. If you made $10 million a year in 2003, you got $1 
million back, Mr. Speaker, from the Bush tax cut. And if your average 
income in this country was $26 million, you paid the same share in 
taxes as someone that made $200,000. We need changes, Mr. Speaker.

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