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Washington DC Office
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100
North Carolina Offices
Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Fax: 919.856.4053
Salisbury Office:
225 North Main Street
Suite 304
Salisbury, NC 28144
Ph: 704.633.5011
Fax: 704.633.2937
Western Office:
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
Eastern Office:
306 South Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27835
Ph: 252.329.1093
Fax: 252.329.1097
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Press Office - Speeches
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SENATOR DOLE SPEAKS AT ALAMANCE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
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May 5th, 2005 - Thank you all for that wonderful, warm welcome. And thank you Beth, for your kind words of introduction. I want to thank Elon University and Dr. Lambert for hosting us here today at their beautiful campus. I was so impressed to learn that this university generates around $243 million in economic activity annually in Alamance, Guilford, Orange and Durham counties. And Elon is the fourth largest employer in Alamance County, providing nearly 3,200 jobs for folks here and in surrounding counties.
I also want to thank my staff here today, state director Margaret Kluttz, deputy state director Reggie Holley, and Eastern North Carolina representative Janet Bradbury, for doing such a wonderful job and helping organize today’s events.
It is a pleasure to be here with you all today. And it is good to be back in Alamance County—especially for this important economic and community development workshop.
As local leaders, you are the backbone of our communities. We owe a great debt of gratitude to each of you public servants for all you do to make our communities better places for North Carolinians. It’s your actions that translate into the most tangible results affecting the lives of residents each and every day – whether it’s promoting economic development, installing a new traffic light or helping a group of senior citizens get to the local recreation center.
You know the issues important to your communities long before the rest of us hear about them. You hear from folks at the post office, at the grocery store, at church. That is why it is so important that you, as local leaders, have the resources and the know-how to help your communities be the best they can be.
These economic development workshops give us an opportunity to discuss the ways federal grants, loans and programs can benefit the places where you live. Across the state, communities are striving to remain competitive in today’s global, high-tech marketplace. I firmly believe that we need to strengthen cooperation between all levels of government and the private sector. We must develop the public infrastructure required to support private sector jobs and improve access to capital in distressed and underserved areas. We must foster an environment that will sustain current industries, attract new businesses and create more jobs. The individuals representing federal agencies that you will hear from today are here to help you accomplish these goals.
Last month, I had the privilege of joining John Cooper, our state director of USDA Rural Development who is here today, in presenting more than 10.8 million dollars in rural development grants and loans to communities in Johnston County. John and his folks do an outstanding job across the state, providing critical funds that spur development in our rural areas. During our day in Johnston County, we announced projects that ranged from extending water and sewer infrastructure in Four Oaks to expanding McCalls BBQ & Seafood Restaurant to help create more jobs at that small business. Funding like this is available to your communities as well – and I hope today’s workshop will encourage you to seek out similar economic development opportunities.
As I meet with folks from North Carolina, both here at home and in my Washington office, a common theme discussed is our state’s economy. Across our state, we are working to overcome manufacturing job losses and adapting to a transitioning economy.
Many of you traveled here today from tobacco-producing areas. I know the tobacco quota buyout will be tremendously beneficial to your counties and our state as a whole.
Many of you are from textile and furniture communities, which have been hit hard by these industries’ hardships. Even before I was sworn in as North Carolina’s U.S. Senator, I have been working for our textile and furniture industries, and in the Senate, I have secured funding and supported legislation that would be good for our companies. Textiles and furniture are sources of great pride for North Carolina, and I want to help our companies survive and prosper, not eliminate jobs and shutter their doors.
As you may be aware, on the first of this year, quotas on textile imports to this country expired. In the first three months alone, Chinese textile imports surged across the board by 63 percent – and in specific categories, such as knit shirts, by more than 1,200 percent! These dramatic surges obviously caused great concern for the industry and those of us who represent textile states.
I have been pleased to work with the Bush Administration on the textile industry’s behalf, and I have strongly urged that trade data be released more expeditiously and that the Administration self-initiate the China Textile Safeguards. Recently, I received good news from Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez that the Administration will take these actions.
Effective the first week of April, the Commerce Department implemented a system to publish textile import data on a biweekly basis. Formerly, the time-sensitive data was available no earlier than six weeks after the end of each month. The expedited release of textile trade data provides the government and the industry a more accurate picture of import numbers and allows them to assess and react to surges in a timely manner.
The Administration also announced it will self-initiate the China Textile Safeguards on three product categories. In the past, the federal government, at the urging of the industry, has recommended invoking these safeguards, but this is the first time it has done so on its own. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, there is still more work to do.
Even with the ending of quotas, tariffs on imports to this country continue to create incentives for China to smuggle textiles into our borders. These illegal textile transshipments must be stopped. I have secured funding to develop a “textile tracer,” a marker to identify U.S. made textiles and keep out fraudulent goods. Additionally, I have worked to secure money for more Customs agents assigned to focus on textiles and shut out illegal goods. I was astounded to learn recently that not one single new agent has been hired. Therefore, I have asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a complete accounting of how the money intended to hire new agents is being spent – because it appears that funds provided for these enforcement operations are not being spent as Congress intended.
Currently, economists estimate that China is undervaluing its currency, the yuan, by 15 to 40 percent. This is further evidence that China is not playing fairly. Manipulating the yuan makes their exports less expensive for foreigners and makes imports, including those from North Carolina, more expensive, and this is undercutting our manufacturers. I have joined a bipartisan group of senators to introduce legislation that would penalize China for undervaluing the yuan by authorizing the United States to impose a duty on Chinese imports if China continues to manipulate its currency. A majority of my Senate colleagues have indicated strong support for this provision, and I expect the full Senate to address it soon.
I also want to mention that our community colleges are playing a significant role in our economy. For folks who have lost their jobs, community colleges are a real beacon of hope. In the midst of this economic transition, they are on the front lines, training workers for high growth, high demand jobs. I have introduced a bill called the Higher Education Affordability, Access and Opportunity Act, which is designed to help our community colleges as well as colleges and universities better prepare students for the jobs of the 21st century. This legislation would provide additional loan opportunities for students and federal grant funding for schools to offer small business training and programs linked to the workforce.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is critically important for North Carolinians to work together to boost our state’s economy. This isn’t a problem of western North Carolina versus eastern North Carolina. And it isn’t a situation affecting only our rural areas but not our cities. Our entire state is dealing with economic difficulties, and that means each and every one of us has a part to play in getting North Carolina back on track. Working together, we can revitalize North Carolina’s economy and make our great state an even better place to live. As we move forward together, let us ask for God’s help and His blessing.
When I was serving in the White House as Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, we found ourselves alone in a holding room. I was always amazed at his inner peace and sense of direction, so I asked him how he handled the challenges of the nation’s highest office.
He told me, “When I was governor of California, Elizabeth, it seemed like every day yet another disaster was put on my desk. And I felt an urge to look behind me for someone to hand it off to. One day, I realized I was looking in the wrong direction. I looked up instead of back. I’m still looking up. I couldn’t go another day in this office,” President Reagan said, “if I didn’t know I could ask God’s help and it would be given.”
I couldn’t agree more.
God bless you, this great state of ours, and this land of the free, America. Thank you.
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