H.R. 4646 Gets Hearing in Congressional Subcommittee

Washington, D.C. – H.R. 4646, the Steel Industry Legacy Relief Act of 2002, took a step forward today when it went before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee for consideration.  The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection heard discussion on the bill at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time).

H.R. 4646, announced on May 2, 2002, with 98 original cosponsors, now has 175.  It needs 218 members in order to have majority support in the House of Representatives.

If passed, the bill – sponsored by Congressmen John Dingell (D-Michigan) and Ray LaHood (R-Illinois) and authored by Visclosky – will save steel jobs, help retired steelworkers, and bolster our national defense.  By relieving struggling domestic steel companies of high retiree healthcare costs, H.R. 4646 will help them stay open and keep steelworkers employed.

“It is imperative to pass H.R. 4646, because American steelworkers are suffering, through no fault of their own,” said Visclosky, vice-chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus.  “For many years, our government failed to stop illegally traded foreign steel from flooding our market, and more than 125,000 steelworkers lost their jobs or health benefits as a result.  We must take action to right this wrong and help the industry survive.”

With the Bush Administration granting 727 exclusions thus far to the tariffs it imposed on March 5, 2002, approximately one-fourth of the products covered by those tariffs have been allowed back into our market, free and clear.  As a result, it has become all the more urgent to provide legacy-cost relief to the beleaguered domestic steel industry.

“The Bush Administration has called upon the steel industry to consolidate, but the loosening of the tariffs can only hamper that effort,” Visclosky said.  “If we are to save steelworker jobs, we must not allow the domestic steel industry to drown once again in a flood of illegally imported steel.”

Every year, the domestic steel industry pays an estimated $965 million for retiree benefits.  This heavy burden makes it extremely difficult for many companies to survive, and it also inhibits consolidation.  The Steel Industry Legacy Relief Act will preserve a level of health-care benefits for steel retirees and encourage the responsible consolidation of the domestic steel industry.  By helping the industry survive, this legislation would save steelworker jobs and preserve America’s ability to produce the steel it needs to defend itself.

Funding would come from three primary sources.  The first would be an amount equal to the revenue from the tariffs President Bush imposed March 5, 2002, on illegally dumped foreign steel.  The second would be Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust funds from participating companies.  The third source would be a one-time charge of $5 per ton shipped steel of acquired steelmaking assets, to be paid by an acquiring company after it purchases another steelmaking firm.

Visclosky has led the push in Congress to help save steelworker jobs.  By lining up a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives for H.R. 808, which he wrote and introduced March 1, 2001, he forced President Bush to call an investigation into foreign steel dumping in the U.S. market.  This culminated in Bush’s decision to impose tariffs against illegal steel imports.  Visclosky also pushed through legislation to give struggling steel companies better access to loans.