The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“MAINTAIN UNITED STATES TRADE (MUST) LAW RESOLUTION” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H10181 on Oct. 19, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MAINTAIN UNITED STATES TRADE (MUST) LAW RESOLUTION
Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, recently the Commerce Department announced a record trade deficit of $25.2 billion for the month of July. That means that foreign-made goods are displacing American-made goods. When foreign goods replace American-made goods, Americans are put out of work, pressure increases to lower wages, and the tax base for schools and cities shrinks.
When those foreign-made goods are illegally subsidized or sold in the United States below price, the trade deficit worsens and it is even harder for American producers to compete. The U.S. has laws to protect American producers and workers from the illegal dumping of foreign-made goods into the U.S., but we are here because there is a real danger that the administration would give away those laws in trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
How do we know that? Let me share something that recently came across my desk. I have here a list of American laws that the European Union wants the administration to trade away. Here on page 9 of this summary on the report on the United States barriers to trade and investment by the European Commission, the EU, the European Union, has identified America's antidumping laws.
Mr. Speaker, when the EU identifies our antidumping laws as a problem, they are advocating on behalf of European-based multinational corporations. They want to make it easier for those companies to sell their products in the United States. Who will lose out if those European companies are allowed to export to the U.S. without regard to America's antidumping laws? American producers and American workers.
House Resolution 298 says that giving up our trade law system is a bad deal for American producers and workers. Do not trade away our trade laws. This is particularly important for people I represent in the Greater Cleveland area who work in the steel industry. Because American steel is the best-made steel in the world made with the best equipment, with the best workers. And yet for all the investment in steel, for all the efforts by the workers there, for all the commitments made by organized labor by the unions who represent those workers, American steel is in trouble. American steel manufacturers are losing money because we are having and have had steel dumped in our markets, and that is not fair.
So, Mr. Speaker, it is time to maintain U.S. trade laws. It is time to take a stand against dumping and it is time to make sure that U.S. laws that are made to protect American producers and workers from the illegal dumping of foreign-made goods into the U.S. are not just protected but are held inviolate. So I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this discussion this morning with the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Doyle) and all the other colleagues who are here who have constituencies that are similar to mine and who want to make sure that we protect American jobs from the antidumping.
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