Sherrod Brown

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I rise to address a problem facing too many communities across the country, including small towns and big cities, suburbs and remote rural areas. Servicemembers who have risked their lives protecting our Nation shouldn't have to wonder whether they will be able to find a job when they leave the service. Unfortunately, far too many do. On Monday, I was in Youngstown in northeast Ohio speaking to Army veteran Pedro Colon. He is one of the first Mahoning County area veterans to be approved for VRAP. VRAP is a particularly important program for veterans in this country. It stands for Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. We just authorized it under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act. I am the first Ohio Senator ever to sit on the Veterans' Committee for a full term, and I take that responsibility seriously. One of the outreach training efforts put together by Senator Murray in the Veterans' Committee is VRAP. Mr. Pedro Colon, Jr., is a high school graduate in his early fifties. Even though he served in an Army medical laboratory as a specialist, civilian employers wouldn't accept his military training experience. As the Presiding Officer knows, having such a huge military presence in her State, in many cases employers are reluctant to hire veterans. Perhaps they are afraid they haven't been tested for PTSD or, for whatever reason, employers far too often seem reluctant to hire veterans. We know the unemployment levels are higher among veterans than they are the rest of the population. We know there is a particular problem for veterans who are a little bit older, who, as in the case of Mr. Colon, are middle-aged. We also know sometimes veterans, particularly if they came out of high school and went directly into service, might not know when leaving the service how to apply for a job, how to do a resume, all the things people learn to do when they are stateside in the civilian workforce. Because of VRAP, Mr. Colon will study at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, beginning in September, to train to become a medical assistant--something he knows something about from his military service but was not certified and, unfortunately, unemployable in that field. We have a responsibility to the Pedro Colons of the world to do something about these thousands of older veterans who are jobless or unemployed. VRAP is for veterans 35 to 60. The GI bill--which most of us in this Chamber supported earlier--helped those returning servicemembers a little bit younger than 35, not as much as it should have but in a significant way. But for many who, similar to Mr. Colon, are older than that, the opportunity to benefit from much of the GI bill has expired. As we invest in our servicemembers in times of war, we should do so when they return to their communities, when they hang up their uniforms, and when they embark in the next phase of their lives. We have a role to play, and this is a case where government can step in and help the private sector do what is right to serve those veterans who served us. That is why the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program-- which is a joint Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor training initiative--is so important. Last year Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which honors our government's obligation to our veterans. VRAP, a component of that law, provides unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 the opportunity to pursue training for new careers in high-demand occupations. As of July 12, some 33,000 applications have been received nationally for the VRAP. The program was limited to 99,000 participants through March 31, 2014. All of us must do everything we can to spread the word to eligible veterans. The number was restricted to 99,000 and the expiration date was set at March 31, in large part, so we could see how this program worked, we could measure it and we could reintroduce it and continue it, if it is as effective as I and as most of us on the Veterans' Committee think it will be. Tony Blankenship, another Ohioan from Martins Ferry in Belmont County on the Ohio River in eastern Ohio, across from Wheeling, WV, was an unemployed iron worker and plans to study at Belmont College for a career as a medical assistant. There are hundreds of different kinds of jobs and tens of thousands of slots for people to sign up. In my State, they can go to the Veterans Service Commission. Ohio is one of those lucky States--not every State does this--that has a Veterans Service Commission funded by taxpayers in local communities. Every county seat, I believe, has a veterans service officer and a Veterans Service Commission, the chief function of which is to serve returning veterans with health care, education, and a whole host of issues, such as job training, for instance, that a veteran might deal with. So programs such as VOW to Hire a Heroes Act and VRAP are not only about opportunities for veterans; they are about helping businesses strengthen our economy by meeting the demand for high-skilled workers. We are seeing businesses leverage public and private resources to hire veterans and expand operations. I met with veterans and veterans advocates from Dayton and Dublin to Mansfield, Chillicothe, Cleveland and Columbus and lots of places around my State to talk to them about how we can partner to help businesses hire unemployed veterans. In North Canton I worked with the Chesapeake Energy Corporation to convene a job fair for Ohio veterans seeking employment as equipment operators, truckdrivers, electronic technicians, and other high-demand careers, perhaps in the shale development industry. In Cleveland State University's SERV Program, staff discussed their national model of helping servicemembers and veterans transition to civilian life through education and workforce training. At a roundtable I did on Veterans Day at Cleveland State 4 or 5 years ago, I talked to veterans and to school administrators about the importance of integrating service men and women who have recently left the military back into the classroom, thinking about the 25-year-old young man or woman who had been in combat in Iraq sitting in class next to an 18-year-old suburban young man or young woman who had no idea of the kind of life experiences the veteran, only 6 or 7 years older chronologically but much older in what he or she had seen in combat. Cleveland State has figured this out, as has Youngstown State, and they have been national models for ways of integrating these service men and women back into the classroom to be able to go out into the workforce. In Columbus, where I held a field hearing on veterans unemployment in December, the Solar by Soldiers Program is hiring veterans to install energy technology. We need to spread the word about training programs, such as VRAP, that will help provide our veterans with the necessary skills to find good-paying jobs. It is part of our job to serve those who have served us so faithfully and so well. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 2:30 p.m. in room SR-253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Medication and Performance Enhancing Drugs in Horse Racing.''

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 10:15 a.m. in room SD- 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled, ``The Latest Science on Lead's Impacts on Children's Development and Public Health.''

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 9 a.m. to hold a hearing entitled, ``Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Treaty Doc. 112-7).''

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 2:15 p.m.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Beyond Seclusion and Restraint: Creating Positive Learning Environments for All Students'' on July 12, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. in room SD-106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``The Future of Homeland Security: The Evolution of the Homeland Security Department's Roles and Missions.''

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, in room SD-628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 2:15 p.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Federal Recognition: Political and Legal Relationship between Governments.''

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate, on July 12, 2012, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 12, 2012, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I so appreciate the leadership of Senator Durbin on the DREAM Act. Nobody has kept the DREAM Act alive more than he, and nobody has spoken more passionately or cares more about young people. The point of so much of what he is talking about is giving people an opportunity. If they work hard and play by the rules, they can get ahead in this country. While I do not come to the floor today to talk about immigration and the DREAM Act, I support what Senator Durbin is doing. I come to speak about something else that is related to allowing people to have the opportunity to get ahead, and that is Ohio manufacturing and why it is so important to our country. The best ticket to the middle class in the last 100 years in the State of Ohio and all over the country has been people making things. The way to create wealth is to either mine it or grow it or make it. The Presiding Officer in his State of Colorado understands all three of those. In Colorado they mine ore, they grow crops, they make products, as they do in Ohio. Ohio is increasingly becoming an energy State in many ways and a leading farm State. Our biggest industry in a sense in Ohio is agriculture. We are also the No. 3 manufacturing State in the United States of America. Only Texas and Colorado produce more than Ohio does. They are States two and three times our size in population and, in area, more than that. We know that from 2000 to 2010, we lost one-third of the manufacturing jobs in this country. We lost more than 5 million manufacturing jobs, which disappeared, suffered tens of thousands of plant closings, thousands of communities abandoned or crippled, teachers laid off, librarians laid off, police and firemen laid off, families broken because of these manufacturing job losses. More than 15,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 2000 and 2010. Since early 2010, we now have 500,000 more jobs than we had in the early 2000s. In other words, for the first time in a decade, we are actually seeing manufacturing job gains. A big part of that is what has happened to the auto industry. I spent much of last week all over my State but especially visiting places in northern Ohio where manufacturing and especially auto manufacturing is so important. I talked to business owners who are grateful and enthusiastic about what happened with the auto rescue. The auto industry was literally dying in Ohio and across the country. At this point 4 years ago, in late 2008 and early 2009, if the U.S. Congress, the President--the House and Senate--hadn't stepped in, my State would be in a depression. Since then, we are seeing major investments--in many cases hundreds of millions of dollars of investment--tens of millions spent on major investments in Toledo, OH, by Chrysler; major investments in Ohio by GM, major investments in Ohio by Ford, and major investments in Ohio by Honda. We all understand the auto industry is alive and well and coming back. But many of these auto suppliers--companies that make brackets or bolts or wheel covers or glass or a number of other products that all go into auto assembly--many of these manufacturers, including component manufacturers of parts for the auto industry, talk about competing against China. For too long, they tell me--and I recognize--China has been manipulating its currency to give Chinese exports an unfair advantage. The Chinese Government also gives illegal subsidies to their domestic industries for the purpose of exporting and dumping products in the American market. The term ``dumping'' simply means they subsidize it so the product itself is priced under the cost of producing it. It is called dumping it in our market. If that weren't enough, China skirted trade volume even further with illegal duties that affected more than 80 percent of U.S. auto exports to China, including Ohio-made vehicles such as Jeep, assembled in Toledo, and Acura, assembled in Marysville. We can't afford to let China take the wind out of our sails. Last week, the day after Independence Day, the administration announced it would stand with American workers and fight back against China's discriminatory tariffs on American automobiles. When they use illegal international trade law--when they put illegal tariffs on American products--it means the Chinese keep prices so high for American-made autos--artificially high--the Chinese simply won't buy them. Chinese motorists won't buy them. So they, in effect, by using these tariffs, have kept American products made by American workers in the United States of America, out of China. We buy so much from China. We can buy products in almost any store in America that were made in China. We buy so many of their products, but they do all they can--illegally in many cases--to keep our products out. Now is the time to stand for American workers, to stand for suppliers in Dayton who provide aluminum and zinc for casting, workers in Defiance, OH, who specialize in heavy-gauge steel for our domestic automobile industry. That is why the President's decision, the United States Trade Representative's decision, aimed at defending American jobs was so important. We know what rescuing the auto industry meant for us. It was not only about preventing crises, but it could have been an economic depression, especially in the industrial Midwest. Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans depend on the auto industry: workers, suppliers, manufacturers, drivers, truckers, sales representatives, dealerships. For those of us in Congress who supported rescuing the auto industry, doing so meant standing for the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Americans, as much as it was about supporting the Big Three. Today the domestic auto industry is back on course. GM is the leading car company in the world. It is earning significant profits. As I said, plants in Toledo and Lordstown and Defiance are hiring workers. Honda, Chrysler, Ford, GM, have all announced those various multimillion dollar investments in Ohio alone, not to mention many other States I named earlier. We have to continue making the investments in manufacturing that matter for our recovery and our economic competitiveness. I was just on a conference call with rural housing advocates in Ohio. We know historically in this country what leads us out of depression: manufacturing and housing. We are doing significantly better in manufacturing. Remember earlier in my short little talk, that we lost 5 million manufacturing jobs from 2000 to 2010. We have gained 500,000 since then, including in Ohio almost every single month over the last 30 months or so. Manufacturing is doing its part to pull us out of this recession. We have got to do better in housing. That is a subject for another discussion. But the manufacturing part is so important. One place we must remain vigilant is the enforcement of trade laws. That is what the President is doing. We know that enforcing trade law is not just right for manufacturing, it is right for job creation. The International Trade Commission's ruling in December 2009 led to a broader measure on imports to support domestic producers of steel pipe, such as V&M Star Steel in Youngstown. By addressing illegal Chinese trade practices, this decision helped increase demand for domestic production. It played a significant role in V&M Star's decision to do something that people did not expect would happen anytime soon. V&M Star Steel made a decision to build a new $650 million seamless pipe mill in Youngstown, OH, bringing, I believe, about 1,000 building trades jobs, building the structure of the plant, and now several hundred jobs as they begin production--a new steel plant in Youngstown, OH, one of the major steel-producing centers in the country that had come on hard times, particularly in steel; a new steel mile in Youngstown, OH, because the President of the United States, because the International Trade Commission, because the Department of Commerce, because Congress pushed for it, actually enforced trade rules, and look what happened. So trade enforcement matters. We also need to be vigilant in currency manipulation. Our trade deficit in auto parts with China grew from about $1 billion 10 years ago to almost $10 billion today. These massive illegal subsidies the Chinese are engaging in are worsened by indirect predatory subsidies such as currency manipulation. That is why my legislation, the Currency Exchange and Oversight Reform Act, the largest bipartisan jobs bill that has passed the Senate in the last 2 years, is so important. It got more than 70 votes in the Senate. Both parties supported it. The House of Representatives had passed a similar measure one other time. Now we are simply asking Speaker Boehner to schedule this bill for a vote. If it is scheduled for a vote, if the House votes on it, they will pass it, I would predict, with at least 300 votes, because large numbers of Members of both parties want to see the House of Representatives move. They voted for it before. We need Speaker Boehner to actually bring it to a vote. It means standing for American jobs when China cheats. Without aggressive enforcement of trade laws, this unlevel playing field will cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs. It is born from the realization that stakes are too high for our workers, our manufacturers, our economy if we do not fight back. We need an all- hands-on-deck approach, at the U.S. Trade Rep, at the Department of State, at the Department of Commerce, to be involved and more aggressive, especially by initiating more trade actions. We know our trade actions stabilized the auto industry. We know enforcement of trade law translates into steel jobs and paper jobs and tire jobs and other jobs. We know it is time to continue fighting for and investing in American manufacturing. I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I know of no further debate. I urge passage of the resolution.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar 433, S. Res. 429.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Wicker amendment at the desk be agreed to.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that S. 3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, be printed as passed.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that the majority leader be recognized and that the first hour be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees, with the Republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half, and that all time during morning business, adjournment, and recess count postcloture on the motion to proceed to S. 2237.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, we hope to begin consideration of the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act tomorrow.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I understand that S. 3369, introduced earlier today by Senator Whitehouse, is at the desk. I ask for its first reading.