[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 72 (Friday, April 28, 2023)] [House] [Pages H2093-H2103] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-28
Chamber: HOUSE
Mr. BLUMENAUER: I include in the Record a statement from the carpenters union and operating engineers union, who oppose legislation that eliminates thousands of jobs; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and LIUNA. IUOE Contact: Jeff Soth UBC Contact: Jen McKernan  Carpenters and Operating Engineers Unions Oppose Legislation That Eliminates Thousands of Jobs  Washington, DC.--The following statement was issued today by James T. Callahan, General President of the International Union of Operating Engineers, and Douglas J. McCarron, General President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, regarding their unions' opposition to legislation that will eliminate thousands of American jobs: Last year, the Department of Commerce opened a circumvention inquiry, alleging that four Southeast Asian countries were circumventing tariffs and duties on solar cells and modules from the People's Republic of China. The inquiry generated massive uncertainty in the domestic solar market by suggesting possible retroactive tariffs as high as 250 percent. This threat resulted in a drop of 20 percent fewer solar construction and installation jobs across the United States. President Biden took action to preserve these jobs, issuing Emergency Proclamation 10414 to prevent tariffs on any solar module and cell imports from the four countries until June 2024. House Joint Resolution 39 will repeal the President's Proclamation and eliminate thousands of jobs in the American solar industry. ``Repealing President Biden's Proclamation will result in retroactive duties and tariffs that would jeopardize 30,000 construction and 4,000 manufacturing jobs,'' said James T. Callahan, General President of the International Union of Operating Engineers. ``We are not prepared to stand by and let some partisan dispute eliminate Operating Engineers' jobs and slow the deployment of clean energy.'' ``The President's Proclamation saves Carpenters' jobs and smooths the development of the domestic solar manufacturing industry. Today, we're seeing the American manufacturing sector respond to incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act and develop homegrown solar modules,'' said Carpenters Union General President Douglas J. McCarron. ``Now is not the time to disrupt the solar industry and layoff thousands of union workers just as we're getting a foothold in the burgeoning solar business.'' The International Union of Operating Engineers and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners urge Congress and members of the Ways and Means Committee to vote against House Joint Resolution 39, which will repeal the administration's Proclamation and eliminate thousands of union jobs, slow the deployment of renewable energy, and generate unnecessary greenhouse gases. ____  International Brotherhood  of Electrical Workers,  Washington, DC, April 26, 2023. To: All Members of the United States House of Representatives. Re House Joint Resolution 39.  Dear U.S. Representative: On behalf of the 775,000 active members and retirees of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), I write to share the IBEW's opposition to H.J. Res. 39, the joint resolution of disapproval regarding President Biden's two-year suspension of certain tariffs on solar imports that is expected to soon come before the committee for consideration. The IBEW represents tens of thousands of workers who make their living installing and maintaining solar generation. This includes large, utility-scale solar developments that are currently providing significant amounts of emission-free power to schools, hospitals, and homes in the United States. The IBEW also represents over 30,000 workers in the manufacturing sector, making the supply chains that move the economy. IBEW members have been intimately involved in the development and deployment of solar power in the United States since its infancy. H.J. Res. 39 would nullify Proclamation 10414, a carefully crafted compromise to give the Department of Commerce authority to provide a two-year pause, from June 6, 2022, to June 6, 2024, on potential anti-circumvention duties on solar panels being imported from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. The Biden Administration made this compromise in order to provide market certainty to allow U.S. companies to continue deploying solar panels while providing a bridge to strengthening the domestic U.S. solar polysilicon photovoltaic supply chain. For far too long, China has participated in unfair trade practices and human rights violations that deeply undercut the U.S. solar manufacturing industry. The U.S. Congress responded by writing key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, including the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit and 48C Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, which are providing the necessary market signals to solar manufacturers to invest in America. These provisions, along with the two-year bridge created under Proclamation 10414, are making a real difference today and will create tens of thousands of union jobs and help spur the kind of domestic production of PV solar wafers, cells, and panels needed to lessen America's reliance on supply chains from abroad. Yet even the most significant investments cannot recreate an industry overnight. With one year left in the Biden administration's two-year pause on certain solar tariffs, the IBEW has already seen the Inflation Reduction Act's benefits, including more than 45 gigawatts in announced solar manufacturing capacity since the law's passage. H.J. Res. 39 is a backward-looking resolution looking to reopen a settled matter rather than create solutions. The IBEW has and will continue to support congressional action that will lower energy costs, strengthen the power grid, and create good- paying union jobs. Moreover, at this time, IBEW does not support an extension of the two-year pause on imposing anti- circumvention duties on Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. On behalf of the IBEW, I urge you to oppose H.J. Res. 39 when it is considered before the House. Please contact Government Affairs Department Director Danielle Eckert if you have any questions. Sincerely yours, Kenneth W. Cooper, International President. ____    LiUNA,  Washington, DC, April 19, 2023. Hon. Jason Smith, Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC. Hon. Richard Neal, Ranking Member, U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Neal: On behalf of the 500,000 members of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), I write in opposition to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution regarding solar panel manufacturing. This resolution will have a harmful     and disruptive impact on our members' jobs within the solar industry. Our nation's energy industry directly employs tens of thousands of LIUNA members across the country. These jobs span across all sectors of energy production including, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, and renewables. By way of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), The Biden Administration has brought good-paying union construction jobs into the renewable industry. Because of this, our members have seen a significant and rapid growth within the renewables sector, in particular the solar industry. These jobs are finally good jobs, with family-supporting wages and benefits. Repealing President Biden's moratorium, however, will bring several solar construction sites to a halt, leaving our members without a paycheck. We recognize that the Department of Commerce's investigation found some solar panel producers committing trade violations. Of course, in time, this will need to be addressed. This CRA resolution comes at a time when our nation is looking to bolster its wind and solar industry, steering away from more harmful energy sources. Our union has never seen this much solar construction work, and future construction work already on the books, within the renewable energy industry, and it is now all at risk if the CRA is passed. I urge you to oppose the Congressional Review Act being marked up today in committee. With kind regards, I am, Sincerely yours, Terry O'Sullivan, General President.