[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13] [House] [Pages 18427-18428] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]UNFAIR TRADE The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. KAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to present some of the stories from northeast Wisconsin, a region in the country known as ``Paper Valley.'' We have, for over 150 years in Wisconsin, been the leaders in the paper industry, not just paper manufacturing, but paper research, designing new ways and new methods of manufacturing and using paper products all throughout the world. We have led the way because we've invested our educational system, our time and energy in developing the industry. And now, across the country, all the paper industry is imperilled because of unfair, unbalanced trade deals, and a trading partner that breaks the rules, and that is Communist China. Recently, in November, the International Trade Commission ruled that there was illegal paper coming into the United States, but there was no damage, no damages to the paper industry here in these United States. Well, shortly thereafter, New Page Corporation closed the Niagara Paper Mill in Niagara, Wisconsin, displacing hundreds of workers who had been there for generations. More recently, several days ago, in Kimberly, Wisconsin, the Kimberly Mill--and you've heard of Kimberly Clark, you've heard of Kleenex, you've heard of other paper products and Huggies and diapers--listen, Kimberly, the only mill that they've had, has been closed and shut down, shut down because of the illegal competition from Asian governments like both South Korea and China. The decision by the International Trade Commission was that there were no damages. Well, I beg to differ. In my office, I have a scroll signed by nearly 5,000 people from Kimberly and the surrounding villages who have been damaged. They are real people with real damages. One of the families, the Van Zeelands, are here with me in picture form. Bruce and his wife Nancy have three children, Alicia, Scott and Courtney. And here is his statement which I read on the floor this morning, [[Page 18428]] ``It turned our life upside down. Working at one company for 28 years and having no other skills to compete in this horrible job market. My wife is struggling to find a full-time job now. We cannot help out our three kids with college. We worry about losing our home.'' And he's not alone. There are hundreds of other workers and other families with real damages that the International Trade Commission may not have considered. What about the family of Tom Sternhagen, who had worked for 29 years at the Kimberly mill? His wife Maureen, his son Ben and daughter Lexi, and here's what he has to say. ``Can't pay the mortgage. Can't pay the property taxes. Our son can't go to college. We have no more health insurance. Can't make car payments. This is nothing but corporate greed with no regard for human life.'' That is Tom Sternhagen. These are the views of normal, hardworking people in northeast Wisconsin who are suffering because of unfair trade deals and an administration that will not allow the rule of law to take place. The International Trade Commission got it wrong: There are real damages throughout Paper Valley and throughout northeast Wisconsin. Now, what's it going to take? What's it going to take to wake up America? We've been bleeding our jobs overseas when instead we should be shipping our values overseas, not our jobs. As Niagara, Wisconsin goes, so goes our Nation. And as Kimberly goes, so goes our Nation as well. It's time for us here in the House of Representatives to work together across party lines and make certain that we design balanced trade deals such that when a ship comes over from China with $50 million worth of goods and materials, they take back $50 million worth of goods and materials made by our hardworking Americans. Look, given a level playing field, we can out-compete and out-work anybody. We are the most productive people ever on Earth. We have had a successful middle class only because of our work ethic and the fact that we've had fair trade deals, free trade. The CAFTA and NAFTA style trade deals are nothing more than a free giveaway of American jobs. It's time for America to wake up. Yes, let's wake up together, let's roll up our sleeves, let's work together in this House and in this next election. Let's elect a President who can think things all the way through, someone who is on the side of the Van Zeeland family, someone who is on our side for a change. ____________________