AISI Resumes Trade Advocacy Following August Recess

As Congress returned from August recess for an election-shortened September session, AISI once again demonstrated its support for legislation that would "level the playing field" for member company steel producers and U.S. manufacturers. This legislation included: The "Schumer-Graham" bill (S.295) to address foreign exchange-rate manipulation, the "Trade Law Reform Act" (H.R. 5529) to improve anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws and promote fair trade, as well as the "The Restoring America's Competitiveness Act" (H.R. 5043) which looks to more effectively deal with import crises and global market inequities.

AISI also continued to lobby against legislation offered by Rep. Joseph Knollenberg (R-MI) entitled the "American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act" (H.R. 4217). This bill would weaken U.S. trade law remedies and endanger domestic producers by making it easier for perennial trade law violators, such as China and Japan, to sell dumped and subsidized products in the U.S.

To view AISI's letter of support for the "Trade Law Reform Act" (H.R. 5529), please visit our Policy Council micro-site.

To listen to the "Trade Law Reform Act" (H.R. 5529) audio advertisement please visit the Steelworks homepage.

To view the co-sponsor list for the "Restoring America's Competitiveness Act" (H.R. 4217), please visit AISI's Legislative Action Center.

AISI Calls on Congressional Appropriators to Allocate Additional Funding for Industrial Technologies-Steel Program

AISI has undertaken efforts again to restore funding levels for the Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies (ITP) Steel Program, which has been steadily reduced over the last few years to levels that threaten to undermine its effectiveness. Congressional appropriators are being asked to allocate an additional $2 million for the ITP-Steel Program in its final FY07 funding bill, so that many of the highly-successful steel research projects—conducted by colleges and universities are around the nation—can continue at full capacity.

As part of these efforts, AISI issued a "Legislative Alert" asking member companies to "get active" and contact their Congressional delegations through AISI's Legislative Action Center (LAC). The LAC provides talking points and previously drafted correspondence, arming members with up-to-date information and giving them the ability to quickly contact Congress with just the push of a button.

To view the member company "Legislative Alert" please visit AISI's Legislative Action Center.

New Features Added to National Journal's "Policy Council" Micro-Site Improving AISI's Ranking to #16 Overall

This past month, several new features were added to AISI's "Policy Council" micro-site including, an interactive company facility map that allows Congressional staffers and member company representatives to easily find the steel facilities located in their respective districts. In addition, this map demonstrates the impact of the domestic steel industry on the U.S. economy.

Also in August, the "Policy Council" released its second quarter (2Q06) membership performance results, with AISI's rank improving to #16 overall (out of 91 total members). More specifically, for the months of June and July AISI's site ranked #8 and #9 overall. These rankings can be directly attributed to the Institute's strong involvement in promoting legislation to develop new energy resources through drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), one of the "hot" issues before Congress this past summer. Since its inception in January, AISI's micro-site has received roughly 1,500 individual web-visits.

The National Journal's "Policy Council" is an innovative web-based research tool that provides Congressional staff and Capitol Hill reporters with timely information, updates and position papers on current policy issues.

To view the entire "Top #25" list please visit the Key Articles section of AISI's Public Policy website.


Check Out AISI's Public Policy Efforts on the Web

AISI's Public Policy Homepage

AISI's Legislative Action Center

National Journal's Policy Council - AISI Micro-Site Homepage

For more information on these websites, contact Matt Davison.

Jennifer Diggins

Matthew Davison

202.452.7214

202.452.7133

jdiggins@steel.org

mdavison@steel.org