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ROCKEFELLER: BUSH AGAIN OPPOSES STEEL INDUSTRY RELIEF
- Criticizes President for Opposing Health Care for Steel Retirees –
-Warns Administration 201 Tariff Exclusions Could Undermine Survival of Industry -

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In reaction to the president’s statement today that he "opposes health insurance assistance for steel retirees," Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said that the president’s lack of commitment to steel is now clear. The president’s position was included in the "Statement of Administration Policy" issued today on the trade bill currently before the Senate.

Last month, the White House refused to support funding for legacy costs – health care retiree costs – as part of the comprehensive energy bill. Citing the White House’s continued lack of support, Rockefeller said "The president has every intention of talking about the need to help steel workers, but when it’s time for real action, he has consistently walked away from the steel industry, its workers and its retirees. "President Bush is using the same tactics that we’ve seen before by the Clinton administration – giving the steel community false hope that he will do what it takes to save the steel industry."

Expressing his frustration with the White House, Rockefeller said, "The president has walked away from the very people he claimed to want to help. It now appears that even his 201 tariff remedies were a shell game. Over the last two months since they were imposed, the administration has excluded from the tariffs nearly 200 products and exempted a significant number of steel producing countries."

The senator continued, "And now, when the president has the opportunity to support health care for steel retirees – the most vulnerable victims of the steel crisis – the president has backed away from that pledge too. The steel industry will not survive without the president’s support. I strongly urge the president to keep his promise to steel retirees, steelworkers and to the United States steel industry."

"The steel industry is on the edge of collapse due to systematic dumping and global overcapacity created by illegal subsidies of steel. If the president does not follow through on his commitment to steel, this will devastate not just our industrial base, but hundreds of thousands of steel households and communities," he added.

Recently, the administration has granted 200 exclusions for steel products that are not currently made in America. In addition, the president has made "country of origin" exclusions for NAFTA members and most developing countries. The president is also allowing one million metric tons of Korean and Australian imports to come into the U.S. tariff-free.

"The 201 tariffs gave us some time to rebuild our steel industry. We can’t allow those critical efforts to be derailed by the president’s lack of commitment and inaction," Rockefeller said.

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