HOUSE RESOLUTION 7

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, Delegates Pettit, Davis, Givens, Ennis, Amores, Anderson, Angotti, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger, Beane, Boggs, Border, Butcher, Campbell, Cann, Capito, Caputo, Coleman, Collins, Compton, Dalton, Damron, Dempsey, Douglas, Doyle, Evans, Everson, Facemyer, Faircloth, Ferrell, Flanigan, Fleischauer, Fletcher, Frederick, Hall, Harrison, Hatfield, Hines, Houston, Hubbard, Hunt, Hutchins, Jenkins, Johnson, Kelley, Kominar, Kuhn, Laird, Leach, Leggett, Linch, Louisos, Mahan, Manchin, Manuel, Marshall, Martin, McGraw, Mezzatesta, Michael, Miller, Modesitt, Overington, Perdue, Pethtel, Pino, Proudfoot, Prunty, Riggs, Romine, Rowe, Schadler, Shelton, Smirl, J. Smith, L. Smith, Sparks, Spencer, Stalnaker, Staton, Stemple, Susman, Thompson, Tillis, Trump, Tucker, Varner, Warner, Webb, C. White, H. White, L. White, Williams, Willis, Willison, Wills, Wright and Yeager)


"Calling upon the President and the Congress to impose a ban on the importing of steel products."
Whereas, The current financial crises in Asia, Russia, and other regions have involved massive depreciation in the currencies of several key steel-producing and steel-consuming countries, along with a collapse in the domestic demand for steel in these countries; and
Whereas, The House of Delegates agrees with and supports the messages contained in S. Con. Res. 121, H. Con. Res. 328 and H. Res. 598 regarding the need to immediately address the imbalance and to improve the enforcement of the trade laws of the United States in order to halt the above obvious trade imbalance; and
Whereas, The House of Delegates agrees with and supports the messages contained in the correspondence to the President of the United States, the Honorable William J. Clinton, from the Honorable Cecil Underwood, Governor of West Virginia, and twelve fellow Governors from the States of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Utah, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Alabama, Minnesota, South Carolina and New York, regarding the need to immediately speak to the trade imbalance and improve the enforcement of the trade laws of the United States in order to halt the above-cited trade imbalance; and
Whereas, The House of Delegates fully supports the valiant and tenacious efforts of West Virginia steel workers in their fight for survival of their industry; and
Whereas, The unfair dumping of steel has placed an industry at risk despite their exemplary efforts to modernize, improve productivity and comply with environmental standards; and
Whereas, The House of Delegates recognizes the value of the steel industry to our economy and applauds the efforts of steel workers whose efforts epitomize their American dream; therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Delegates:
That the House of Delegates calls upon the President of the United States and the 105th Congress to work together to expeditiously enforce title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 in response to the surge of steel imports resulting from the financial crisis in Asia, Russia, and other regions, and establish a plan to thwart such activity in the future; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature calls upon the President to order the immediate review of all imports of steel products that are entering the customs territory of the United States from Australia, China, South Africa, Ukraine, Indonesia, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Brazil and any and all other steel exporters; and, be it
Further Resolved, If said review establishes that such countries are not abiding by and with any and all applicable international trade agreements, the Legislature calls upon the President and the 105th Congress to immediately impose a ban on the imports of all steel products from said countries, until such time as compliance with the applicable trade laws can be assured.