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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Noting that the Administration has not yet committed to addressing the three highest trade priorities needed to save the U.S. steel industry, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said he could not give negotiating power to an Administration he was not fully confident would protect steel. During a Senate Finance Committee hearing today, Rockefeller indicated that the Administration must show its commitment to steel by providing effective Section 201 remedies, supporting legacy cost relief, and protecting U.S. trade laws before he would consider giving the President fast track authority.

Fast track legislation, if passed by Congress, would give President Bush the authority to negotiate trade pacts that Congress would have to accept or reject without making any changes.

Senator Rockefeller gave the following statement at this morning’s mark up of the bill:

"We're here this morning to talk about the Administration's top trade priority -- fast track negotiation authority.

"My top trade priority is saving the American steel industry and the livelihoods of thousands of steelworkers in West Virginia and tens of thousands of steelworkers across this nation. The U.S. industry has made dramatic strides to increase its investment and productivity -- and reduce its workforce -- over the past two decades. But the U.S. steel industry's efforts to return to sustainable economic health have been undercut by foreign governments' subsidy and protection of their own steel industries, and the dumping of steel in the U.S. market that those practices have led to.

"The International Trade Commission has unanimously found that our industry has been seriously harmed or threatened with serious harm due to a flood of cheap imports. Under our trade laws, that entitles our industry to safeguard measures in the form of four years of tough tariffs. That decision is in the President's hands. Also in the President's hands is the decision on whether or not the Administration will facilitate the consolidation of our steel industry by helping to finance the retiree health care crisis caused by the dramatic shrinkage of the steel industry's active labor force. To maintain basic steelmaking capacity in the United States the President needs to do both.

"I don't know when the President will make a decision on a 201 remedy. I believe that for relief to arrive in time to have the desired effect, the President needs to make a decision before the

close of the year. I am hopeful that he will recognize the need for immediate action and act. I also don't know what the Administration is willing to do to help with legacy costs. I understand senior members of the Administration are considering it, high level meetings have been held, but no commitments have been made.

"Americans steelworkers need meaningful relief and they need a commitment from this Administration that they will help with legacy costs. While the Administration has taken positive first steps that indicate it wants to preserve a U.S. steel industry, I don't know if ultimately they will make the hard choices and do what it takes on a 201 remedy and on legacy costs. These are two of my trade priorities. I need to know how the Administration plans to address them before I make any decision about what I am willing to do on their trade priorities.

"I also need to have full confidence in this Administration's commitment to our trade laws, especially antidumping and countervailing duty laws and safeguard measures.

"Over the years I have supported trade agreements that opened up new markets for U.S. products while protecting the legitimate interests of American workers. But the United States Trade Representative's conduct of trade policy in the past month has given me serious reservations about granting the Administration a blank check for a new round of trade agreements. The USTR negotiates trade agreements, not the President. While fast track authority is talked about as a grant of authority to the President, it is, in fact, implemented by USTR. It will be USTR, not the President, who will be sitting in the WTO negotiations over the next three years.

"At the World Trade Organization Ministerial last month, the USTR agreed to international negotiations to weaken U.S. trade laws, like our anti-dumping laws which protect U.S. industries such as steel from unfair foreign competition. This represented a dramatic reversal from the Administration's previous position that no weakening of U.S. trade law was warranted or appropriate, and seemed to ignore that a majority of both the House and Senate had explicitly stated to the Administration that we should not agree to weaken our trade laws in the new WTO round. Despite that, the Administration made an unprecedented concession to "improve" our trade laws in ways that our trading partners desire. For that reason, I am increasingly concerned that this Administration cannot be trusted to negotiate trade deals that protect America's interests.

"I am equally concerned that the Administration has not yet recognized that we need to substantially expand Trade Adjustment Assistance.

That has been part of the bargain on trade in this country since 1934. Expanded trade opportunities for some can mean real job loss for other workers, and we need to make sure they have the assistance they need. I regret that the Administration has yet to endorse the TAA bill our Committee reported last week which improves income support, expands the program to secondary workers, and provides much needed health care coverage to workers as well.

"In sum, I cannot in good conscience vote for fast track authority for the President without a complete understanding of what this Administration is willing to do to preserve our nation's steel industry and our basic trade laws. I have reason to hope that the President will act affirmatively to maintain the American steel industry, but I am very worried that his USTR may spend his tenure undermining the very trade laws that have preserved the steel industry in this nation up to this point."

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