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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 2001 |
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ROCKEFELLER SAYS WEST VIRGINIA STEEL MUST BE PROTECTED DURING ANY RESTRUCTURING DISCUSSIONS -Urges Secretary Evans to Address Retiree Health Care Costs- - Announces Trade Adjustment Assistance Bill Approved in Finance Committee- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Responding to industry reports of restructuring, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today warned Tom Usher, USX-U.S. Steel Chairman of the Board, that West Virginia steel manufacturers must fully participate in any restructuring talks. Also today, in a series of developments to help save the U.S. steel industry, Rockefeller met with Commerce Secretary Don Evans to discuss the issue of retiree health care in the steel industry, and announced that the Senate Finance Committee approved legislation to reauthorize Trade Adjustment Assistance. Rockefeller, on behalf of West Virginia’s steel industry, wrote to Usher, "The possibility of a massive consolidation of the integrated steel industry holds promise for strengthening the United States steel industry well into the future. I write to emphasize, in the strongest possible terms, my requirement that West Virginia’s steel manufacturers have the opportunity to fully participate in these discussions, as they see fit." (Full text of the letter attached.) Earlier today, Rockefeller met with Secretary Evans to reiterate the need for the Administration to quickly provide a 201 remedy, and to emphasize the need to address retiree health care. Rockefeller told Secretary Evans, "A sufficient remedy will return steel prices to their normal, pre-crisis levels and help American steel companies get back to the business of producing steel, making long-term investments and restoring them to competitive companies once again. Should the President fail to provide an adequate remedy, though, or fail to provide it in a timely manner, we may well lose this essential domestic industry forever – with grave consequences. West Virginia companies may not be able to wait until February. "A steel company is going bankrupt at the rate of about one every nine days. So far West Virginia has survived, but again I’m worried that they may not last through the Administration’s announcement of a 201 remedy. Steel workers know this in the President’s hands and all the hard work they’ve done to make steel competitive will be negated if you do not institute a comprehensive, effective remedy. "Even with effective 201 remedy, the industry won’t survive for too long without retiree health care relief. Legacy costs are the steel industry’s greatest burden and it is imperative that we find a way to help workers and their families maintain the health care they have earned. So, even after 201, the fight for this industry is not finished." And finally today, Rockefeller and his colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to approve the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act (TAA) advancing it to the full Senate for a vote. The legislation, which Rockefeller along with several colleagues introduced in July, includes additional assistance for programs to facilitate job re-training, as well as job search and relocation allowances. West Virginia is a major beneficiary of Trade Adjustment Assistance. Between 1996-2000, the U.S. Department of Labor certified almost 5,000 West Virginia workers as eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance. In all, West Virginians who lost their jobs due to imports received over $17 million in TAA and NAFTA-TAA benefits and job re-training during this time period. "We're facing one of the worst economic downturns in a generation. We've lost over a million manufacturing jobs in the last year. That's why it is critical that we reauthorize and improve Trade Adjustment Assistance," Rockefeller said after today’s vote in the Finance Committee, "This program provides much needed income support and job relocation and assistance to workers who have lost their jobs due to imports." Rockefeller added, "When our government’s trade policies lead to American workers losing their jobs through no fault of their own, then we as a nation have an obligation to those workers and their families. Even as we improve and expand TAA for workers who have lost their jobs due to imports, America is facing the loss of a basic industry vital to our national security. The American steel remains in real crisis. We're waiting for 201 remedy recommendations from the ITC, and then from the President. Now the question is on the remedy and whether it will arrive in time. I have and will continue to urge the Administration to act before the end of the year on relief recommendations." ### December 4, 2001 Dear Mr. Usher, The possibility of a massive consolidation of the integrated steel industry holds promise for strengthening the United States steel industry well into the future. I write to emphasize, in the strongest possible terms, my requirement that West Virginia’s steel manufacturers have the opportunity to fully participate in these discussions, as they see fit. Those of us involved in the fight for the steel industry have long agreed that the American steel industry needs the full benefit of U.S. trade laws. That means, at this point in time, a strong and an effective 201 remedy imposed by the President before the end of this year. At the same time, the industry must garner significant government support for steel retirees’ health benefit costs, and reduction in foreign production overcapacity. All three of these issues must be substantially resolved if an American steel industry is to survive over the long term. That is why I believe the Administration has an obligation to act under its 201 authority and also has the duty to negotiate any multilateral reductions in overcapacity. And we will all need to work together to help our industry with its retiree health care costs. As I think you know, I will continue to vigorously fight for American steel in every way I know, and that will include my insisting that my West Virginia manufacturers (and therefore their steelworkers) are full partners in any restructuring process. Assuming that takes place, I would expect to be able to fully support the results of those discussions, and would pledge to do all I can to enact the necessary enabling legislation. I look forward to working with you to strengthen this critical industry. Sincerely,
Tom Usher | |