[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 16448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     NATIONAL FOREST PRODUCTS WEEK

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, in recognition of National Forest 
Products Week, I would like to commend the more than 27,000 men and 
women who work in the forest products sector in my home State of 
Michigan.
  Taken together, Michigan is home to nearly 200 forest products 
facilities that run the gamut, from furniture manufacturing to paper 
mills. With yearly salaries of over $1.4 billion, these facilities 
represent one of our State's most significant manufacturing sectors.
  Paper and forest products play a vital role in our domestic economy 
and benefit every American as they go about their daily lives. 
Additionally, wood construction is an innovative form of climate 
protection because wood oftentimes replaces competing building 
materials that require sizeable amounts of fossil fuels to produce. 
Moreover, wood lowers a building's carbon footprint because it 
continues to hold carbon absorbed during the growth of the tree, 
keeping that pollution out of the atmosphere for the life expectancy of 
the building. As we look to reduce carbon emissions and green our 
building stock, we ought to look at greater use of innovative wood 
products in commercial structures.
  Similarly, paper and packaging products help all Americans to 
communicate with each other, teach our kids, and learn new things 
ourselves. These products preserve and deliver our food, medicine, and 
other manufactured goods. Whether it is a marriage certificate or a 
young child's finger painting, these paper products capture some of the 
most important moments in a person's life. For these reasons and 
others, I am proud to be a cochair of the Senate's Paper and Packaging 
Caucus.
  I urge all of my Senate colleagues to join me in celebrating National 
Forest Products Week and to consider the variety of ways this 
sustainable resource benefits us in our lives. Thank you for the 
opportunity to recognize the forest products industry's dedicated 
professionals who work and reside in the great State of Michigan.

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