[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 405]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         NIAGARA LOSES ITS JOBS

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                            HON. STEVE KAGEN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 17, 2008

  Mr. KAGEN. Madam Speaker, yesterday, Niagara, Wisconsin--a town of 
1,900 people--was hit with an economic earthquake when the new 
corporate owner of the former Stora Enso paper company, Newpage, 
announced that every single one of the 319 higher-wage papermaking jobs 
would be eliminated. The mill is closing. Period. It's gone.
  The paper company is the primary source of income and the town's tax 
base. And as Niagara goes, so goes our Nation.
  Niagara is paying the price for our Nation's unbalanced and unfair 
trade policies.
  The NAFTA and CAFTA-style ``fair trade'' policies have failed to 
produce prosperity that professional politicians promised.
  These failed trade deals will soon bankrupt hard-working families in 
Niagara and families all across America.
  When will the President realize that no one--not even skilled 
papermakers--can compete against slave labor in Communist China?
  China has targeted every one of our manufacturing industries for 
extinction. Textiles, steel, paper, automobiles, toys, pots and pans, 
even our ammunitions; what's next?
  We must stop the bleeding of our economy and we must stop it now. We 
simply cannot afford to lose any more jobs, and we certainly cannot 
afford to stand by the side of the road and watch the tax base of every 
city in America disappear.
  Instead of exporting our jobs, we must begin to export our values, 
for without a viable economy, we have no freedom.
  Today, the good people of Niagara have lost their freedom.
  Congress must hear their voices, their fears, and their prayers.
  These papermaking jobs put food on their tables and helped pay the 
mortgages for the 1,880 hard-working families in Niagara. The good 
people of Niagara need our economic and psychological support--and they 
need help now, not next year.

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