[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10855-10856]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            EULOGY TO MAYTAG

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to identify with the remarks of the 
gentleman from Kansas and say that this is likely to be the first year 
in America when we will import more food than we export. It is another 
sign of what is happening to the innards of this economy. Agriculture 
has always helped America maintain her independence. We best keep that 
in front of us as we move forward.
  I wanted to come to the floor tonight to talk about and pay tribute 
to something on the manufacturing side of our economy, a company that 
has been noted for excellence as a top-of-the-line firm. I talked about 
it a little bit earlier during the Special Order dealing with the 
economy; but Maytag Corporation, headquartered in Newton, Iowa, sadly, 
will be closing. I own no stock in this company. I have no personal 
worth associated with it, but I am one of the millions of American 
homeowners and householders who says ``thank you'' to those who helped 
build and maintain this great American company. Thank you for the 
excellence of your products.
  The company was founded in 1893 by F.L. Maytag, 35 miles east of Des 
Moines, Iowa, in Newton, Iowa. Soon it, along with sister plants in 
Arkansas and Illinois, will be closing, idling 3,000 more people losing 
their jobs in manufacturing in those places. Hopefully, some of them 
will be able to find other jobs.
  But the point I want to talk about tonight is you just don't replace 
a Maytag company. The generations of Americans who crafted, built, and 
serviced this all-American product deserve recognition in this 
Congress. They should be proud of the heritage of which they are a part 
and of their commitment to quality. Maytag Corporation when it shuts 
its doors will be closing a chapter in American history that for 
generations stood for quality and high performance. It was America's 
industry leader. Maytag helped define America's manufacturing 
heartland. In fact, Maytag itself symbolized the words ``quality'' and 
``dependability.''
  Some people will say, well, a washing machine is a washing machine. A 
dryer is a dryer. What does it matter? Yes, there are other companies, 
Mr. Speaker. There are other companies. But they don't match Maytag's 
sterling reputation for product quality. How often have we seen in the 
age in which we are living the dumbing down of American manufacturing 
and its displacement by lesser quality products made with lesser 
quality parts, many of which are imported from foreign countries?
  We have witnessed the demise of the U.S. television industry, the 
furniture industry, the automotive industry, the loss of our energy 
independence, and now probably this year the loss of our agricultural 
independence.
  It is correct. The average age of farmers in this country is now 59 
years old. What about America's agricultural future? But in this 
industry of home appliances, an industry leader is brought to its knees 
as excellence again gives way to global market pressures.
  As I have studied Maytag's componentry compared to competing 
products, I am struck by how much America is really losing. It is 
losing more than a company. It is losing a standard of excellence.
  Mr. Speaker, Maytag's quality was more than marketing. Maytag was 
real. It really was excellent. Its corporate success began with fine 
design, careful craftsmanship, investment in research and development, 
and employment of excellent raw materials. Maytag's employees were 
proud citizens, living in a proud Republic. They knew they were helping 
to build a strong America, and they did that every day for over a 
hundred years.
  For Maytag, quality was achieved on several levels. Most Americans 
know Maytag through its commercials which show the lonely Maytag 
repairman who never got a call for servicing because America's 
homemakers simply didn't have problems, or rarely did, with Maytag 
machines. Quality was number one. Maytag's performance was assured by a 
long history of investments in research and design that assured that 
quality. Only recently when they became a victim of the downsizing that 
is hitting U.S. manufacturing did the firm begin to cut back on 
research and development. The trickle down effect of foreign 
competition and the cheapening of componentry affected Maytag.
  The list of Maytag's engineering bests compared to competitors has 
been documented and is extensive. This is what we are losing, to name a 
few: heavy duty stabilizing springs that assured best performance. That 
sounds like a simple thing to make, but it isn't. Heavy duty base 
leveling legs; gauge quality in the metals; high torque motor; 
counterbalancing tubs. And the type of transmission that had only three 
parts, not 30, and, therefore, repairs were kept to a minimum.
  Mr. Speaker, as I end this evening, Maytag earned our trust: ``The 
value

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you demand from the brand you trust.'' America can't afford to lose a 
company like Maytag.

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