10348 CONGRESSIONAL -RECORD- HOUSE June ~ 9 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS Anyone who feels that I may be overstat­ From the things which have been done to Grave Threat to Textile Industry ing this situation need only look at the pub­ the industry in the name of global goodness, lished figures of American textile companies, it is no exaggeration to conclude that it is EXTENSION OF REMARKS including Avondale. Our cotton cost is 50 the actual, if not officially expressed, policy OF percent of our selling price, on the average. of the Government of the United States that This would be somewhat higher in our coarse the American textile industry is expendable HON. HERMAN E. TALMADGE yarn mills and somewhat lower in a mill like and should be forced to help finance its own OF GEORGIA Birmingham. An 8-cent subsidy on cotton liquidation. is equal to 25. percent of the cotton cost. Fortunately, this plight has received recog­ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES With cotton being 50 percent of the selling nition in a study recently completed by a Tuesday, June 9, 1959 price and with the foreigner having a 25-per­ special subcommittee of the Senate Com­ cent advantage in the cost of his cotton, it mittee on Ip.terstate and Foreign Commerce Mr. TALMADGE. Mr. President, the .doesn't take a mathematical expert to figure which, in' its report, recommended a 10-point trade and. foreign aid policies of the that the foreigner can have a 12%-percent program of help and relief for the textile United States with respect to the subsi­ lower selling price than the domestic mill. industry. Essentially, its recommendations dized exportation of .raw cotton and the The advantage · he has in respect to his entail more stringent import quotas, . faster indiscriminate importation of finished lower wage rates is an additional advantage. relief action under the Trade Agreements textile goods are jeopardizing the contin­ The tariffs, which are based on the value in Acts, a better tax break particularly as re­ the exporting country, have been watered gards depreciation and elimination of the ued existence of the American textile two-price system on American cotton. industry and threatening the jobs of the down to a point where they are hardly worth talking about. What little tariff is left It is my resolute conviction that the country's 1,919,200 textile workers. doesn't come anywhere close to offsetting the American textile industry, as well as all other Under present procedures foreign wage advantage, so the cotton subsidy will be domestic industries, has a right not only to countries can buy surplus American cot­ a net advantage to the foreign mill. expect but also to demand that both Con­ ton with borrowed American dollars 20 This subsidy to the foreign mill is being gress and the executive branch by statute percent cheaper than it sells in this paid for by the American taxpayer, including and policy give it and the jobs of its workers country and, taking advantage of wage those of us who look to the textile industry effective protection from unfair foreign com­ rates which in many instances are one­ for our livelihood. To permit goods made petition. For the sake of the one out of from this subsidized cotton to come back into every three Georgians employed by the tex­ tenth or less of the American legal mini­ tile industry, it is my hope that Congress mum and of virtually nonexistent tariff this country and take our markets is so com­ pletely unfair and unreasonable that we have will act to give it relief and protection at barriers, undersell comparable American difficulty getting our fellow citizens to be­ this session. · textile products on the American mar­ lieve that the situation exists. Surely on kets. This situation will be materially August 31, when the subsidy is to be sub­ worsened on August 31 when the export stantially increased, limitations will be Senator Johnson's Tribute to Three subsidy on cotton will be increased to placed on how much can come back in. If 8 cents per pound. this is not done, it will not only wreck our Maryland Congressmen A special subcommittee of the Senate industry but in the long run will defeat the Committee on Interstate and Foreign purpose of the cotton subsidy, which is to EXTENSION OF REMARKS reduce the surplus of raw cotton in the OF Commerce recently made an exhaustive United States. Obviously, no reduction in study of the problem and, in an excel­ raw cotton surplus will take place if the sub­ HON. VICTOR L. ANFUSO lent report, recommended a 10-point sidized cotton exports are permitted to dis­ program of help and relief for the tex­ place bales of cotton which would otherwise OF NEW YORK tile industry. It is my earnest hope that be used in American mills. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Congress will take affirmative action on Tuesday, June 9, 1959 these proposals before the close of this HERMAN TALMADGE REPORTS FROM WASH­ 1st session of the 86th Congress. INGTON Mr. ANFUSO. Mr. Speaker, the distin­ The grave threat posed to the Ameri­ No other industry in the history of the guished majority leader of the Senate, can textile industry has been graphi­ world ever has been forced to compete for the Honorable LYNDON B. JOHNSON, has cally described in a recent statement by its existence under handicaps like those im­ just paid a most deserving and excel­ Hon. J. Craig Smith, president of Avon­ posed on the American textile industry by lent tribute to three of our colleagues this country's trade and foreign aid policies. from this House, who are Democratic dale Mills. I also treated on it in my As the result of those policies, the indus­ weekly column of May 20. try's overseas competitors have the stagger­ Representatives from Baltimore, Md. I ask unanimous consent that Mr. ing advantages of being able to get their They are the Honorable GEORGE H. FAL­ Smith's statement and my column of capital from the U.S. Treasury in the form LON, dean of the Maryland delegation; May 20 be printed in the REcoRD. of foreign aid grants and loans, to buy the Honorable EDWARD A. GARMATZ; and There being no objection, the state­ American surplus cotton with borrowed the Honorable SAMUEL N. FRIEDEL. American dollars 20 percent cheaper than it This tribute was paid them at a testi­ ments were ordered to be printed in the sells in this country, to sell their finished RECORD, as follows: monial dinner in their honor at the Lord products back to the American Government Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Sunday AUGUST 31, 1959, WILL BE A CRUCIAL DATE FOR through so-called three-way deals under the OUR INDUSTRY foreign aid program, to learn American evening, June 7, 1959. I had the distinct pleasure and privilege to attend this din­ (By J. Craig Smith, president, Avondale Mills, trade secrets and production know-how Sylacauga, Ala.) merely by asking, and, because American ner and to participate in the tribute to tariffs and quotas have been reduced so our colleagues, who have distinguished On August 31, 1959, the export subsidy on drastically, to undersell comparable Amer­ themselves in their public service to the American cotton will be increased to 8 cents ican products on the American markets. per pound. The American cotton mill then people of Maryland and to the Nation as Those advantages are compounded by the a whole. will be in a completely unbearable situation facts that wage scales in many of the com­ unless at the same time there are definite peting countries, particularly in the Far I was particularly impressed by Sen­ limits placed on how much of this cotton can East, are one-tenth or less of the American ator JoHNSON's address in which he also come back into the United States in the form legal minimum and that there are no bars discussed the role of the Democratic of yarn, cloth, and garments. in those countries to the imposition of Party in Congress and in providing lead­ Up to now, the principal reason our for­ working conditions which would be illegal ership to the Nation. Senator JoHNSON eign competitors have been able to sell in here in the United States. himself is setting a fine example of dis­ this market is because of their very much It is small wonder in the light of those tinguished leadership and in building up lower wage rates. The products which have facts that the American textile industry has a constructive record of achievements by come in were those which had a high percent lost markets equivalent to 10 percent of the of labor in their total cost, such as fine national production and that, since 1947, the 86th Congress which we can proudly combed goods and garments. With an s­ 717 textile mills have closed their doors and present to the people in due time. · cent cotton subsidy, the foreign mill will be 345,000 textile jobs have been discontinued. In my book Senator JOHNSON is an able able to ship heavy goods such as sheeting and It is a tribute to the vitality of the industry leader and a great humanitarian. He is denim into the United States based solely on that its losses have been contaimid within a man who loves peace, but at the same · the saving they wm have in their cotton cost. those bounds. time he is a firm believer in adequate 1959 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE 10349 military preparedness and in maintain­ I also want to express my appreciation to It is that there is something more to poli­ ing the proper defense posture for our Congressman ToM JoHNSON, Congressman tics other than being elected.