A healthy U.S. steel industry is critical to national security, President Bush told applauding steelworkers Sunday in West Mifflin, signaling the administration’s high level of concern for the troubled industry. ‘If you become over-reliant on foreign sources of steel, it can easily affect the capacity of our military to be well-supplied. Steel is an important job issue. It is also a national security issue,’ Bush said. The remark drew quick applause from a group that traditionally supports Democrats – about 1,200 steelworkers who had gathered on the muggy summer afternoon for an employees’ picnic at U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works Irvin Plant. The president, making his second trip to the Pittsburgh area since he was inaugurated in January, also praised the steelworkers for demonstrating a work ethic that has made the nation strong. The comments brought approval from United Steelworkers President Leo W. Gerard, who shared the podium with the president, Gov. Tom Ridge, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and other dignitaries. Overall, Gerard gave Bush a mixed review. ‘I would have liked it if he had gone further. So in that sense I’ve got some disappointment – that he didn’t say more on the specifics of what they would do,’ Gerard said in an interview following Bush’s talk. ‘But the fact is, he recognized the national security importance of the steel industry and made a comment that he didn’t want to see the ability of America to produce steel to be damaged,’ he said. ‘It’s the first time that we’ve heard the president say that – the national security issue.’ U.S. Steel officials said this was the first time an American president had visited one of their facilities since Franklin Roosevelt toured a Homestead plant about 60 years ago. Bush’s visit was in conjunction with the company’s 100th anniversary. The afternoon was not all serious business on worrisome topics. The crowd sang happy birthday to Ridge, who turned 56 yesterday. The West Mifflin High School Titans marching band played ‘The Eyes of Texas’ for Bush. ‘We don’t play that very often; that’s not their normal routine, but they’ve been practicing all week for this event,’ noted the school’s principal, Terry Doran. ‘It’s a big event – a very big event. They’re very excited.’ Bush cracked a few jokes, telling Ridge that he didn’t look ‘a day over 60’ and quipping that ‘Congress is on vacation and the country has never run better.’ But the plight of the steel industry remained center stage throughout the afternoon event, which included an array of speakers and a tour of the factory. Gerard praised the Bush administration’s initial efforts to grapple with foreign steel dumping. In June, the White House initiated an International Trade Commission investigation under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 to determine whether imported steel is hurting domestic steel producers. Union leaders have charged that the U.S. steel industry has been targeted for extinction. Domestic manufacturers and union groups have complained that some importers sell products here at prices below their production costs and lower than true market value because they receive subsidies from their governments. Gerard has urged Bush to back the Steel Revitalization Act currently before Congress. The bill would set up a $10 billion fund for loan guarantees for financially distressed companies and establish a trust fund to offset pension and health care costs for retirees now covered by the steel companies. Faced with a deepening crisis, some 23 steel companies are in various stages of bankruptcy and 25,000 U.S. steelworkers have lost their jobs, Gerard said. The pensions and benefits of more than 600,000 retirees and their families are threatened. In his comments yesterday, Bush made no mention of the pending bill. Ridge, also a Republican, said Bush sent ‘the right message for this event.’ ‘He’s initiated the (Section) 201 investigation. There is not too much the president can really say until he gets all the facts and they draw some conclusions,’ Ridge said. ‘We need to hone in on the impact on our defense industry with the demise of our domestic steel industry.’ Santorum, a Republican from Penn Hills, said Bush chose the steel plant location ‘to show he’s on steel’s side.’ ‘I don’t know of any president who has tried to do more for the steel industry than this president. He did something, in calling for the 201 review, that Bill Clinton wouldn’t do. He (Clinton) really did nothing.’ On another issue, Bush admitted that he’s troubled by the sluggish economy. ‘Our economy has grown at a paltry 1 percent for the last 12 months, and that worries me,’ he said. ‘We’re taking action – paying down record numbers of debts to ease the pressure on interest rates. We’ve got a trade policy that’s going to have a level playing field as a component.’ Steelworkers also applauded Bush’s mention of the tax cut the White House helped pushed through Congress this year. ‘One way to help is to give people their own money back. You see, there is a big debate in Washington about the money in Washington. Some times the folks up there lose sight about whose money it is. That money is not the government’s money. It’s the people’s money, and we did the right thing,’ he said. Fred Harnack, general manager of the Mon Valley Works, said it was important for the president to get an up-close view of the steel industry. ‘We need him to see how much the plant has been modernized over the past 10 years and that we are an extremely competitive complex here,’ Harnack said. ‘We produce high quality, state-of-the-art products for the automotive, construction and appliance industries, and right now we’re being damaged by unfairly priced foreign imports.’ Workers in the Irvin plant, which operates around-the-clock seven days a week, took a break while Bush toured the factory with Gerard at his side. A number of employees asked the president for his autograph. Mon Valley Works has about 2,500 employees, Harnack said. Bush was accompanied on the trip by first lady Laura Bush, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, who initiated the steel-dumping investigation. The first couple then went to South Williamsport in Lycoming County for the final of the Little League World Series, where the president threw out the first pitch. David Brown can be reached at dbrown@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5614.

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