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The provision is simply this. The provision will give retirees, many of whom are entering, as I indicated, their second month without health care coverage--85,000 of these workers are former LTV workers, which went chapter 7. They were in Ohio or they may have moved elsewhere. It tries to give them some breathing room.
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They will receive the same benefit we are giving TAA-eligible workers to keep their health care. It will allow these retirees some time to figure out how to secure other forms of health insurance. It will allow us who care about the steel industry to figure out how we keep them together in America so we can consolidate and keep a steel industry which a country such as America ought to have.
The amendment has been officially scored by the Joint Tax Committee as costing--and please listen--$179 million over 10 years. The White House has been putting out figures six, seven times as large. It is dramatically less than what people claim this provision would cost--$179 million over 10 years. It is paid for with two IRS administrative positions. The offset is in. It is there. It allow taxpayers to accelerate their payments to the IRS if they so choose to do that. Under current law, they cannot do that. The House has already passed this. They have already agreed to it. It was one of Chairman BILL THOMAS's ideas.
I do not believe any of my colleagues will object to this pay-for and should understand we worked hard to find agreeable offsets, thanks primarily to Chairman Baucus and his staff.
This amendment improves upon an essential reform of our existing TAA program. It gives us health care. It targets temporary assistance to those who really need it.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment for retirees who are entitled to our help.
I thank the Presiding Officer. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
Ms. MIKULSKI. I thank the Chair.
Madam President, I join with pride and enthusiasm my colleagues, Senator Rockefeller and Senator Wellstone, in supporting this amendment to provide a safety net for American steelworkers who have been battered by decades of unfair and illegal trade practices.
American steelworkers and their retirees worked very hard and played by the rules. They have served our country in war, building our ships, tanks, and weapons. I was so proud of the fact that in my own hometown of Baltimore, at Bethlehem Steel , we made the steel to repair the U.S.S. Cole so it could go back out to sea and continue to defend America.
That is what steel is all about. It builds America. It makes us strong. It has made us strong in war, and it has made us strong in peace, making the steel for our buildings, our cars, our bridges, our roads.
Yet for decades, our Government has watched as the steel industry withered, not because steel was unproductive, not because steel was overpriced, but because of cheap, subsidized foreign steel that has been dumped on our markets and, I might add, below the cost of production. That is what makes it illegal.
The goal of the foreign steelmakers is to destroy our American steel industry. Then foreign producers will be free to raise prices and control production, and the United States of America, the home of the free and the land of the brave, will be dependent on foreign steel for keeping our domestic economy going and keeping America strong.
What would it have been if the U.S.S. Cole, banged by a terrorist attack, had had to limp home only while we dialed Russia, Thailand, or Brazil to get the steel parts to send them out to sea? I think it is wrong to let our steel industry die.
While we are going to fight for steel and its future--and we thank our President, President Bush, for the temporary tariffs to give steel a break--our steelworkers are facing a crisis because so many steel companies are in bankruptcy. What that means is, their health care benefits are now at risk. The Rockefeller-Mikulski-Wellstone-Stabenow amendment seeks to help those steelworkers who have suffered the most from unfair trade practices: the retirees whose companies are now bankrupt and whose health care benefits are now at risk.
Our amendment is a simple one, and it is an affordable one. It would provide a 1-year temporary extension of health care benefits for steel retirees who lose their health insurance because of trade -related bankruptcy of their company. Guess what. We have even sunsetted it in the year 2007. This is a bridge to help them.
Madam President, about whom are we talking? Who are the steelworkers? Who are the steel retirees about whom we are talking?
First, the numbers: 600,000 retirees and their dependents; 33,000 in my own home State of Maryland are retired. But it is not about numbers and statistics. It is about people and it is about families. Who are they? Guess what. They have two characteristics in common: One, they all work for steel ; two, they have all been good, outstanding citizens of the United States of America.
In my hometown, Bethlehem Steel every year has been the largest contributor to United Way. Those men and those mills, those hot, steamy mills, are the first to sign up for dues checkoff so the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Legal Aid, Meals on Wheels could have their contribution. They are also very often the first to volunteer for any good cause in our community.
When you also look at the data on who are the steelworkers, you find that a high percentage of them are veterans. They were called up and they went to World War II. They went to Korea. They went to Vietnam. And guess what. While they were busy storming Iwo Jima or climbing the cliffs at Normandy, they were fighting for America. When they tried to make their way up Pork Chop Hill to plant the flag, they were fighting for America. When they were in that hell hole of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, they were fighting for America. Now when is America going to fight for them?
I think it is time America fights for them. The industrial unions had the highest compliance with the draft than any other sector of our society. They did not take academic deferments. They did not go to Harvard to get a theological degree. They did not get a parade when they came home. By God, they ought to at least be able to get their health care in their retirement.
Now that is about whom I am talking. We are talking about the lifeblood of our communities and people who have been giving their red blood for America. This generation has the values that we cherish: Hard work, patriotism, habits of the heart, neighbor helping neighbor. Can we not at least find a couple of million bucks to provide a 1-year bridge to help them get the health care they need?
Last week, I told my colleagues about Gertrude Misterka. Gertrude and I grew up in the same neighborhood. It is a neighborhood called Highlandtown. Our Baltimore neighborhoods have names like that. I know Gertrude because we not only grew up in the same neighborhood, but when I was first running for the city council, going door to door, she and her husband Charlie were living in the neighborhood and said they absolutely would back me.
It was great to see her at my hearing in March, but, my gosh, what an incredible reunion. Gertrude is now a widow. She was married to a Bethlehem Steel worker named Charlie. Charlie worked with Bethlehem Steel for over 35 years. He was also a veteran. Charlie thought that for his 35 years at Bethlehem Steel , he would have a secure pension for himself and his bride. He also believed if he passed away, she would have a widow's benefit, she would have Social Security, and his mind was at peace because she would have her health care.
Even after his death, he thought he could provide for her because the men at the mills believe you ought to really provide for your family.
Well, Gertrude relies on this health care at Bethlehem Steel . She has diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma.
I said: Gertrude, the naysayers are saying you get gold-plated, lavish health care. Tell me what you get.
She said: BARB, guess what. I get a $100 monthly pension. I do not get a COLA. When you retire at Bethlehem Steel you take what you get, but you do not get a COLA. My pension is frozen.
Out of a $100 monthly pension, she pays $78 each month for her health care premium. So she has this little pension. She has Social Security, but out of her Bethlehem Steel , frozen with no COLA, she pays 78 bucks.
She told me she asked her pharmacist what her medications cost. If she did not have health care, she would have to pay $6,716 for her medication.
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Now, she is a diabetic. You do not cheat on your diabetes medicine. What are we going to do if Gertrude goes into a coma? She is going to go into the hospital, and that is mega bucks. You have to take your test. You have to take your insulin. You have to regulate your blood pressure, and you have to take care of that asthma so it does not cause other complications.
I listened to Gertrude that day and my heart went out to her and other steel retirees. I promised her I would fight to help those retired steelworkers. They need a safety net so they do not lose their health care. Then the only reason they will lose their health care is because their companies are in trouble and are going bankrupt because of documented unfair trade practices.
These families worked hard for America, some for nearly 50 years, doing back-breaking work in hot mills and in cold mills. Families now need our help. Retired steelworkers who thought 30 or 40 years of hard work meant security for their families, widows who sent their husbands off to these mills every day: these are the true victims of years of unfair trade practice. So this is why we have our amendment.
American steel is in crisis. Our steel companies are filing for bankruptcy protection ; 31 since 1997, 17 last year. Steel mills are shutting down. Steelworkers are losing their jobs. Why are they doing this? Again, this is not happening because of the steelworkers being at fault, the retirees being too greedy, or the companies being poorly managed. The cause of the steel crisis is well-known: Unfair foreign competition has brought American steel to its knees. Foreign steel companies, subsidized by their governments, are dumping excess steel into America's open market at fire sale prices. This is not rhetoric. This is fact, documented by the International Trade Commission.
Last year, they found these violations unanimously.
Let me give an example. The Russian Government keeps about 1,000 unprofitable steel plants open through subsidies. That is not 1,000 steelworkers; that is 1,000 steel companies. Well, it is real easy to compete with them, is it not?
The Russians are our newfound friends, but the Russians will not let us export our chicken legs to them. South Korea has nearly doubled its production capacity since 1990, without the domestic demand to support it. So, zip, in comes their steel . When Asian countries had the collapse of their economies, they again dumped the steel . Was any action taken? Oh, no. The globalizers backed it.
I know we are going global, but while they are going global, we do not have to abandon the people who fought for America. I said earlier in my remarks about why steel is important: The railroads, the bridges, the ships, the tanks. Saving steel is not an exercise in nostalgia. It is a national security issue. We need to maintain production in very important sectors. No more than we want to be food dependent should we be steel dependent.
Our President, George Bush, said steel is an important issue and he said it is an important national security issue. I could not agree with him more. Quoting Senator Stevens, a great patriot:
During World War II, we produced steel for the world. We produced steel for the allies. We rebuilt Europe. Could we do it again?
I am not so sure.
America must never become dependent on foreign suppliers such as Russia or China for the steel we need to defend our Nation and keep our country on the go. Tariffs have been imposed by President Bush. I am going to reiterate what I said earlier in my remarks: I really do thank the President for doing that. Those tariffs were temporary, limited to 3 years. They were specific and they were well documented through the ITC. I appreciate the President's action, and that was a very important step, but now we need the next step. Tariffs help the industry. Now it is also time to help the workers and their retirees who will lose their health care if their companies go under.
Senator Daschle has led the way to provide a temporary 1-year extension of health benefits to qualified steelworkers. I sure support that. We are also helping with other issues related to current workers.
Like the temporary work tariffs gave the companies breathing room to recover, we need a temporary extension of benefits to give workers and retirees breathing room to find health care. This is what we need to do.
I was moved at a hearing by the stories of people such as Gertrude Misterka and others. I have been to the rallies. I have been to the meetings. I feel very close to these workers. I grew up in Baltimore in a neighborhood where most of the people in that community worked either at Bethlehem Steel , Western Electric, or General Motors. Western Electric has since closed. General Motors, we are not sure about its future there. Bethlehem Steel is in bankruptcy. We have real problems. This is our industrial base.
In that neighborhood where I grew up, my father had a neighborhood grocery store. He opened it early every day so that the steelworkers on the early morning shift could come by and buy their lunch. These were the people I knew. These are not numbers and statistics, these are people with names such as Stanley, Henry, and Joe. These workers at Bethlehem Steel were not units of production, they were our neighbors. They were my neighbors, but they are your neighbors.
What did we know about Bethlehem Steel ? In Baltimore, we thought it was a union job with good wages and good benefits. Our neighbors could go to work and put in an honest day's work, get fair pay, and come back and build our communities. Right now, most of the Bethlehem Steel workers work very hard. Their commitment to Bethlehem Steel is a commitment to America, doing the work that needs to get done for fair pay and a secure future. We are proud of our workers at Bethlehem Steel . We are proud of what they did at the mill. We are proud of how they defended America. We are proud of the way they prepare the U.S.S. Cole.
I think it is time we repair the agreements to assure our retirees have the health care they need.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues, Senator Rockefeller, Senator Mikulski, and other Senators who have joined in this amendment. I thank Senator Mikulski for her remarks and for reminding Members we are not talking about statistics, we are talking about men and women whom we know and love and in whom we believe. I thank Senator Rockefeller for his painstaking work putting this amendment together.
I am not the insider politician, but I want steelworkers--and not just steelworkers; I want people in the heartland of America, in industrial America--to know exactly what the situation is. It is 5:10 on Thursday night in the Senate Chamber. Here is what is going on. We had an amendment originally as part of the trade adjustment assistance. It was an amendment that said part of trade adjustment assistance ought to be to build a 1-year bridge where we can at least make sure the steelworker retirees--in the case of Minnesota, taconite workers on the Iron Range--who worked hard all their life, and now over 30 companies have declared bankruptcy, including LTV company, a classic example, receive retiree health care benefits. People are terrified.
We said, let's have a 1-year bridge. This was in the original amendment. Senator Rockefeller worked very hard on it. Jay took the lead. Senator Daschle deserves a lot of credit. He is the leader of our party. We have this as part of trade adjustment assistance.
The administration came out Wednesday of last week with a letter. They said the cost would be about $800 million in 1 year. They were downright untruthful with the figures. Actually, we were talking about $180 million over 10 years, not $800 million over 1 year. The administration said it was adamantly opposed. It was crystal clear there was no way to move this package forward, and therefore this provision was removed.
I was presiding in the chair when Senator Daschle said: I make it crystal clear that all amendments to try to modify this trade adjustment assistance package, I will oppose--but not the amendment that will deal with steelworkers, trying to give them help; I will support that.
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Now we bring the amendment to the floor. What does the amendment say? It says as part of this trade adjustment assistance package, $180 million over 10 years, can't we build this 1-year bridge to provide the help to the people who have worked so hard, now terrified they will lose their health care benefits? It is cost effective. It helps people. It is compassionate liberalism, compassionate conservatism, compassionate Democrats, and compassionate Republicans. We ought to do this. It is the right thing to do.
I want steelworkers and their families to know, this is now being filibustered. There are Senators who I assume will be debating this--I hope; certainly not the majority. The good news, Senator Rockefeller: Clearly, we have the majority of the votes. What we have now is no agreement on time, no agreement for an up-or-down vote. This bill is being filibustered. That is where we are. We are in a filibuster situation. One would think it was a cardinal sin and the most terrible thing in the world to try to provide some help to people--which is what this is about. Therefore, this is being filibustered. Therefore, we are going to continue with
this debate. There won't even be a vote until next week. That is what is happening right now.
I am pleased we have a majority of the votes. That is obvious, since the opponents do not want an up-or-down vote. We have a lot of support for this amendment. The question is whether we can overcome the filibuster, whether we can overcome the efforts to block this amendment.
I remember Jerry Fallos, president of Local 4108 on the Iron Range of Minnesota, came here within the last month and testified. I cannot say it as well as he can say it. It is amazing. He has seen 1,300 people out of work. People are out of work, and these are good-paying jobs. And now you wonder how you will support your family, and 6 months or a year later you do not have health coverage, and you worry about that. For a lot of the taconite workers, it is their parents about whom they worry.
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