Statement AI Analysis

Statement AI Summary:

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (with other Congressional Labor and Steel Caucus members) criticizes the Trump administration for canceling federally awarded manufacturing and energy grants, blames tariffs and trade policy for higher prices and job losses, urges renewed federal investment in U.S. manufacturing and decarbonization projects (citing specific Ohio companies and a large Cleveland-Cliffs cancellation), and calls for adherence to regular order in awarding and honoring contracts.

Statement AI Bias Category on Economy and Jobs:

Left-Leaning

Bias of All Statements by Marcy Kaptur on Economy and Jobs:

Statement AI Categories:

Economy and Jobs, Environment and Climate Change, Foreign Policy, Trade and Commerce, Energy Policy, Congressional Procedure

Date:

09-17-2025

Pages In PDF Link That Have Statement:

H4398-H4405

Actual Statement Made In Congress:

If the member made multiple statements on that day, they were analyzed and accumulated together.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, today what a privilege it is to join with a dear dozen Members from across the Congressional Labor Caucus and Congressional Steel Caucus to address the devastating harm the Trump administration and DOGE have exacted on people, our communities, the cost of living, and job losses across our Nation. Job loss and the withholding of funding by the Trump administration of awarded contracts, Federal contracts, withdrawing those from investment across our country, has caused real ruptures in district after district after district. We are going to summarize just some of those tonight. Today, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter percent. Why did they do that? It was to soften the ongoing damage of an unsteady economy. From our region of northwest Ohio all the way to Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Louisiana, New Mexico, Maryland, Michigan, Hawaii-- the list is long--please listen to the stories of real U.S. companies, workers, and communities that are being devastated by job losses and broken promises. Meanwhile, inflation and prices are steadily on the rise due to the GOP's reckless tariffs. First, we must ask why the Trump administration is stopping the investment of billions upon billions of dollars in projects that were awarded to make America great again. The answer is the Trump trade war. Well, but then on top of that, this tariff regime is raising prices on everything for American households. The American people are being squeezed hard every time they try to buy a home, buy a car, afford health insurance, go to the grocery store, or go shopping for clothes, toys, tools, and school supplies. It is a reality that our Nation functions under the weight of unfair global supply chains. While we can all agree that it is great to manufacture as much as possible in America, that requires real investment in companies and in their workforce. It means building new factories and production capabilities that can compete in the 21st century. For example, in my district of northwest Ohio alone, the Trump administration just canceled $107 million in investment for three major projects aimed at modernizing U.S. manufacturing production and distribution. All of those projects were debated and passed last year in both Chambers of Congress under regular order. They were the result of compromise within the Budget and Appropriation Committees, as well as the authorizing committees, and then advanced to the floor for a vote in both the House and the Senate. That is called regular order. They were signed by the President and awarded--first of all, they were vetted inside these departments and awarded, then, based on merit back in March of 2024. In essence, they were legal, following standard procedure, and were regulated by Federal agencies with receivables awarded and contracts signed. The recent appointees to the Cabinet agencies, however, reneged on all of these promises. That is not just unfair, it is a breach of legal contract. These breaches of contract for strengthening U.S. manufacturing included $45.1 million taken from Libbey Glass in Toledo, Ohio; $16 million taken from Kraft Heinz in Fremont, Ohio; and $57.3 million taken from Owens-Illinois Glass, which is headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio, and also operates a facility in Zanesville, Ohio. These cancellations, these upendings hurt Ohio manufacturing jobs. The Trump administration should reconsider where and who is being harmed. These projects based in our country were part of 24 projects approved by the Department of Energy for a total of $3.7 billion to modernize and make more efficient facilities across America to combat fierce foreign competitors like China, Mexico, Korea, and others. Make America Great Again means investing in America to improve and modernize here at home. I have other companies to mention who had the rug pulled out from under them, but I yield now to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Budzinski) from Illinois' 13th District, who is vice chair of the Labor Caucus. I thank her for participating. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman and Labor Caucus members for participating this evening and for their tremendous leadership, and I thank them for being with us tonight and telling this story. Mr. Speaker, when we had the joint session here not so many months ago, I said to the new Vice President, who ran from the State of Ohio as a Senator, then-Senator JD Vance, now Vice President Vance, please don't forget Ohio. The biggest of the cancellations of these investments that was stolen back in Ohio by the Trump administration was another major Ohio company, steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs. Please let me remind folks that steel helps create America's spine, certainly for manufacturing, and Cliffs traces its roots in our Great Lakes region back to 1847. Get ready for this: Their canceled project amounted to over $500 million, half a billion dollars, in an industry where China manufactures four times as much as the world uses and then strategically dumps, including in countries like ours, and diverts production in order to get in here through the back door. Shockingly, Vice President Vance himself helped cancel this hydrogen- based modern steel project in his own hometown of Middletown, Ohio. Our Ohio community knows that China produces way too much steel and knows exactly how to wipe out elements of production. Thus, the Vice President's actions make absolutely no sense. Mr. Speaker, also joining us this evening is Congressman Bill Foster, a real leader, including in the scientific community, and he represents, as co-chair, the Research and Development Caucus. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster). Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for participating and for that excellent information that we will share across both Chambers. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Mrvan), a Steel Caucus vice chair and a Labor Caucus member from the great State of Indiana in the industrial north. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Mrvan. I have traveled over to Indiana many, many times. When I first ran for office, it was part of the Congressional Steel Caucus and remained one. I saw the U.S. steel industry crushed, and I have spent my entire career trying to help rebuild it in America. Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to serve with Representative Mrvan because I know he shares that same commitment. I thank him for coming down to the floor tonight. After Mr. Tonko's presentation, I will turn to Representative Val Hoyle from Oregon's Fourth District. She is also a vice chair of the Congressional Labor Caucus. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), the Representative from upstate New York and also a member of the Congressional Labor Caucus. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Tonko for his time. He is such a leader. He doesn't have to be here this evening, but I know how hard he works on his committee and on his subcommittees. I know how grateful the people of New York are to have his service here. I thank him for helping to trace the history of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects his part of America, all the way west to Duluth, Minnesota. It takes us to the Atlantic and to the world. I thank him so very much for being here tonight, and it is an honor to serve with him. Mr. Speaker, before I call on Congresswoman Hoyle, I thank her for coming. I am reminded, as I was listening to Congressman Tonko, there is a plaque way up practically at the top of the ceiling here. We have to have really good eyes to see it. For those who can't be with us in the Chamber tonight, let me remind them of the quote of Daniel Webster, one of the Founders of our Republic, who called on us to: ``Let us develop the resources of our land, draw forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests and ask whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.'' That is why we are here tonight. Each of us is working in our regions to perform something worthy to be remembered. It is quite painful when the President of the United States and his minions inside the administration take away something that was legally passed, signed, juried, awarded, and then taken back. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hoyle), who represents Oregon's Fourth Congressional District and is the vice chair of the Congressional Labor Caucus. Coast to coast, New York to Oregon, I thank her for joining us. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman so much for participating and for her focus on tariffs and how devastating those have been. In our part of the country we call ourselves the Great Lakes nation, and we work with Canada in almost a seamless economy. We are the third largest economy in the world. These tariffs are wreaking havoc every time parts cross the border. Just in automotive, for example, a part can cross the border seven times from Ohio to Ontario, Canada, and back again and back again and into Michigan, so we really are being harmed deeply every day by these tariffs. I wanted to just place on the record a few extra details of the plight of Libbey Glass in Toledo, Ohio, in my hometown. I mentioned that $45.1 million was canceled by the Department of Energy to Libbey Glass, and it was part of $6 billion in funding through the Department of Energy for industrial decarbonization. This is where America lost so much ground, as Congressman Foster talked about, to China. We are trying to rebuild the muscle of America. The company was going to retrofit its plant with a new electric furnace technology to reduce CO2 emissions significantly. The award aimed to add to the capacity of the plant that still operates in its original facility and creates living-wage jobs in the heart of Toledo, Ohio. They call Toledo the Glass City. It is our identity, but now that opportunity has been quashed unnecessarily, so carelessly and thoughtlessly. Instead of new, modern furnaces that could have lasted more than a decade, the plant will be forced to invest in less efficient and environmentally unfriendly furnaces that will last for 2 to 3 years only. Because the Trump administration has cut the funding for 2025, the firm will be forced to spend even more in 2028, 2031, 2034, and 2037. You get the picture, Mr. Speaker. It is backwards math that just doesn't add up. It means America becomes less competitive in manufacturing. That does not make America great again. Please, please, Trump administration, pay attention to the details. I don't think the President would want this outcome. I think there must have been a blip somewhere in the bureaucracy. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the Fourth District of Maryland (Mr. Ivey). Representative Glenn Ivey is a distinguished judge, as well as a very great intellect, and I am very grateful for his participation this evening. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Ivey. We sure are glad that cancer research resulted in extending his life for these many decades because we sure need him here in Congress. His constituents have really elected a great man here. I thank him so much for being here tonight and working with us to bring these issues before the American people. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining? Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury), who is an active member of the Labor Caucus. I will say to anyone who is listening to us here this evening, these Members have worked all day. They started very early this morning. You can say they are doing a double shift, in my part of the country. They haven't eaten dinner. I just want the American people to know that there are Members of Congress who work very hard, who respect our Constitution, and who respect the laws of this country. It is now almost nearly 8 o'clock in Washington, D.C., moving on that, and they are here to represent you. Congresswoman Stansbury is amazing, and I thank her for joining us. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury) for that impassioned plea, and I stand with the gentlewoman. Coming from New Mexico, with everything happening there with the climate and so forth, the gentlewoman really is such an excellent Representative. I thank her for joining us as a member of the Labor Caucus. The gentlewoman gave just a fantastic delivery. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Mannion), a Labor Caucus member from the 22nd District. I thank the gentleman for waiting this evening. It is now 7:45 p.m., and the gentleman is still on the job. Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Mannion for his passion and for his obvious dedication throughout his life to restore the economic might of his district. I know that struggle. Our Federal Government has been too slow to respond to the washout of jobs and capacity across this country, and that is what is making our politics so rocky. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your generous gavel this evening. Mr. Speaker, I will include in the Record some materials that we were not able to verbally enter this evening. Mr. Speaker, I will invite Secretary of Energy Wright, President Trump, and Vice President Vance to come and stand with the workers at Libbey Glass in Ohio so they completely understand what it takes to rebuild manufacturing in America. I hope they will show up. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Source:

Library of Congress

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