Wendell Ford

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, there is room for staff to have seats in the back. That would help some.

Mr. FORD. He has a total substitute, so it will be a little longer, probably.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] and the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Bradley] are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I was just hoping.

Mr. FORD. If the Senator will yield, are we going to try to have time agreements on these?

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Bradley] and the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor] are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Bradley] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey [Mr. Bradley] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Bumpers] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Bumpers] and the Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd] are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, as cochairman of the Senate National Guard Caucus, I join with my colleague, Senator Bond, to thank my good friend Senator Stevens and his ranking member Senator Inouye for including our amendment prohibiting the use of appropriated funds to inactivate any units of Special Operation Forces of the Army National Guard in the managers amendment. This issue has just been brought to Senator Bond's and my attention. From all indications, the U.S. Special Operations Command has decided on their own to inactivate two Army National Guard Special Forces battalions by September 1998. This inactivation represents a loss of 802 individuals--or one-third of the Army National Guard Special Forces structure. This is not only a complete surprise to me and Senator Bond, but also to the Department of Defense. Upon hearing of this plan, I asked my staff to check with the Pentagon to see if they knew of this proposal and had given their approval. Much to my dismay, I found out this was new to them as well. The Special Operations Command tells us that these National Guard units are excess. However, a closer examination of the facts indicates that the actual motive behind this proposal is to harvest moneys to be spent on active forces. It is my understanding that the Special Operations Command did not even bother coordinating these proposed reductions with the leadership of the National Guard Bureau, the Army National Guard, or the active duty Army. I believe this is the first step by the Special Operations Command for the total elimination of Special Forces in the National Guard. The National Guard Special Forces units--the 19th and 20th Groups-- are made up from the following States: Alabama, Utah, Mississippi, Florida, West Virginia, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia, Washington, Ohio, Rhode Island, California, and Kentucky. These Special Forces groups are at the highest personnel readiness levels in history. Just recently, they proved their mission readiness during Operation Uphold Democracy when they made up over one-half of the U.S. Special Forces presence in Haiti. Mr. President, the Special Operations Command's proposal to reduce these National Guard units does not appear to be based on any thorough analysis of force structure required or cost comparison savings between Active Components and Reserve Components units. It was because of decisions like this that Senator Bond and I joined Senator Lieberman, Senator McCain and others to co-sponsor an amendment to the 1997 Defense authority bill calling for a complete review of our military force structure needs. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter I received from the adjutant general of the State of Kentucky, Gen. John Groves, be printed in the Record following my remarks. Mr. President, I again thank the chairman and ranking member and their staffs for their assistance in this matter.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Johnston] is necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that is badly needed by the American textile and apparel industry and its workers. It complements an effort in the other body spearheaded by John Spratt of South Carolina and supported by over 100 Members of the House. My legislation is aimed at opening markets around the world and at enforcing the rules of the road that govern trade in textile goods. Broadly speaking, it will do so in four ways. First, by extending the same authority that now exists for enforcing intellectual property rights to opening markets for U.S. textile and apparel products. Second, by supporting U.S. textile and apparel producers in their ongoing efforts to modernize and become more internationally competitive. Third, by strengthening U.S. laws against illegal trading practices like piracy, undervaluation, and transshipment in the textile and apparel area. And lastly, by beefing up the ability of the U.S. Government to enforce its trade laws and trade agreements. Mr. President, 2 years ago, Congress passed the GATT implementing bill which will end all limits on textile imports by the year 2005. Our textile and apparel industry, which argued for a longer phase-out period, very reluctantly accepted this outcome. The industry accepted this outcome because it had already made a commitment to compete in the global economy. Our textile and apparel industry has invested billions of dollars in becoming more competitive--about $12 billion just since the GATT implementing bill was passed. They've supported the aggressive efforts of the President and USTR to open markets to American products. And our industry has committed to exporting. But what happens when American textile and apparel producers go to foreign markets to sell their products? Too often, they find a closed door. Worse still, those same countries that ship the most to the United States are often the ones whose markets are closed to U.S. products. China, for example, which is our No. 1 source of textile and apparel imports, shipped $6.6 billion worth of textile and apparel goods in 1995, but allowed the sale of only $63 million of United States goods. Likewise, our textile and apparel exports to India and Pakistan were just $19 million last year, while those two countries sent us $2.8 billion worth of textile goods. Clearly, we can't tell our industry to sell its products overseas if overseas markets are closed to American goods. My bill will help by requiring that textile agreements include specific market access commitments and by providing for a regular evaluation of the market access given to U.S. products. Mr. President, nearly 1.5 million Americans are employed directly in the textile and apparel industries, about 40,000 of them in my State of Kentucky. American textile and apparel workers are among the most productive in the world and make some of the finest goods anywhere. Unfortunately, during 1995, 150,000 of those workers lost their jobs, due in large part to surging levels of textile imports. Most of these workers live in rural areas where jobs, particularly good jobs, are not always easy to come by. For those workers, when the local textile mill or apparel facility closes, there simply aren't other jobs. Now, it's bad enough that many of those imports and lost jobs are due to trade agreements that we should not have passed, like the NAFTA. But what's much worse is the fact that thousands upon thousands of jobs are lost because of illegal textile imports. This bill will give the Customs Service badly needed tools to fight against textile and apparel transshipments and counterfeit textile goods. And, it will raise the penalty for those who break our laws in textile trade. Mr. President, I want to thank those Senators who have agreed to join me in introducing this important legislation. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to work on this in a bipartisan fashion, as we have so many times in the past on the issues that affect our textile and apparel workers. This bill is not about protectionism. It's not about special favors for a particular industry. It's about basic fairness in how we trade with other nations. It's about enforcing our trade laws and standing up for American textile and apparel workers. Mr. President, my bill's message is a simple one: Our textile and apparel industry and its workers are ready to compete. We should pass the Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act this year to make sure they can compete, both here in the United States and in markets around the world. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my bill be printed in the Record at this time, along with the cosponsorship of Mr. Hollings, Mr. Helms, Mr. Warner, Mr. Heflin, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Byrd, and that it be referred to the appropriate committee.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open until the close of business today so that other Senators may add their names to the bill as original cosponsors.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Record remain open until the close of business today so that other Senators may add their names to the bill as original cosponsors.

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that is badly needed by the American textile and apparel industry and its workers. It complements an effort in the other body spearheaded by John Spratt of South Carolina and supported by over 100 Members of the House. My legislation is aimed at opening markets around the world and at enforcing the rules of the road that govern trade in textile goods. Broadly speaking, it will do so in four ways. First, by extending the same authority that now exists for enforcing intellectual property rights to opening markets for U.S. textile and apparel products. Second, by supporting U.S. textile and apparel producers in their ongoing efforts to modernize and become more internationally competitive. Third, by strengthening U.S. laws against illegal trading practices like piracy, undervaluation, and transshipment in the textile and apparel area. And lastly, by beefing up the ability of the U.S. Government to enforce its trade laws and trade agreements. Mr. President, 2 years ago, Congress passed the GATT implementing bill which will end all limits on textile imports by the year 2005. Our textile and apparel industry, which argued for a longer phase-out period, very reluctantly accepted this outcome. The industry accepted this outcome because it had already made a commitment to compete in the global economy. Our textile and apparel industry has invested billions of dollars in becoming more competitive--about $12 billion just since the GATT implementing bill was passed. They've supported the aggressive efforts of the President and USTR to open markets to American products. And our industry has committed to exporting. But what happens when American textile and apparel producers go to foreign markets to sell their products? Too often, they find a closed door. Worse still, those same countries that ship the most to the United States are often the ones whose markets are closed to U.S. products. China, for example, which is our No. 1 source of textile and apparel imports, shipped $6.6 billion worth of textile and apparel goods in 1995, but allowed the sale of only $63 million of United States goods. Likewise, our textile and apparel exports to India and Pakistan were just $19 million last year, while those two countries sent us $2.8 billion worth of textile goods. Clearly, we can't tell our industry to sell its products overseas if overseas markets are closed to American goods. My bill will help by requiring that textile agreements include specific market access commitments and by providing for a regular evaluation of the market access given to U.S. products. Mr. President, nearly 1.5 million Americans are employed directly in the textile and apparel industries, about 40,000 of them in my State of Kentucky. American textile and apparel workers are among the most productive in the world and make some of the finest goods anywhere. Unfortunately, during 1995, 150,000 of those workers lost their jobs, due in large part to surging levels of textile imports. Most of these workers live in rural areas where jobs, particularly good jobs, are not always easy to come by. For those workers, when the local textile mill or apparel facility closes, there simply aren't other jobs. Now, it's bad enough that many of those imports and lost jobs are due to trade agreements that we should not have passed, like the NAFTA. But what's much worse is the fact that thousands upon thousands of jobs are lost because of illegal textile imports. This bill will give the Customs Service badly needed tools to fight against textile and apparel transshipments and counterfeit textile goods. And, it will raise the penalty for those who break our laws in textile trade. Mr. President, I want to thank those Senators who have agreed to join me in introducing this important legislation. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to work on this in a bipartisan fashion, as we have so many times in the past on the issues that affect our textile and apparel workers. This bill is not about protectionism. It's not about special favors for a particular industry. It's about basic fairness in how we trade with other nations. It's about enforcing our trade laws and standing up for American textile and apparel workers. Mr. President, my bill's message is a simple one: Our textile and apparel industry and its workers are ready to compete. We should pass the Customs Enforcement and Market Access Act this year to make sure they can compete, both here in the United States and in markets around the world. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my bill be printed in the Record at this time, along with the cosponsorship of Mr. Hollings, Mr. Helms, Mr. Warner, Mr. Heflin, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Byrd, and that it be referred to the appropriate committee.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. It is medical savings accounts that the Senate turned down, and the conferees are all for MSA's. Therefore, we will get something that the Senate turned down, and that is the basic objection.

Mr. FORD. We absolutely know, if you know what is going on in the Senate.

Mr. FORD. Reserving the right to object, we have already gone beyond the 11 o'clock period of time. I had changed appointments to be here at 11 o'clock because that was the unanimous-consent agreement. I do not want to interfere with the distinguished Senator from Texas, but somehow or another we are going to have to stay on track. That was the unanimous-consent agreement last night, that we would have 11 o'clock. Now it is 11:10. And if I give----

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I yield such time as the distinguished Senator from North Dakota may desire from the time that we have. I yield my portion of the time remaining to his control.

Mr. FORD. Will the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Vermont [Mr. Leahy], the Senator from Illinois [Ms. Moseley-Braun], and the Senator from Washington [Mrs. Murray] are necessarily absent.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. FORD

Mr. FORD. Mr. President, the fiscal year 1997 Department of Defense authorization bill we will pass today contains $10.8 million in authorized funding for phase 3 construction of the Western Kentucky Training Site in Muhlenburg County, KY. I appreciated the willingness of my colleagues to secure this funding for phase 3 construction at the site and wanted to share with them a recent articles from Soldiers magazine. This article gives an excellent review of the center's training activities and its importance to our Nation's defense, calling it the training site of choice of units stationed in the Eastern United States. Again, I would like to thank my colleagues for their support of this military site, and I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.