Posted on 23 Jan 2009
House committee approves domestic steel use in stimulus package
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a provision to use U.S. steel as part of the federal economic stimulus package.
Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, is a member of the Congressional Steel Caucus and has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. steel industry. He had urged House leaders to include domestic steel manufacturers in the legislation.
This comes at a time when production at metro-east steel mills have slowed. U.S. Steel Corp. has temporarily shut down operations at its Granite City plant and has left about 1,550 steel workers out of work for the time being. Amstead Rail, also in Granite City, laid off about 100 workers before the end of last year and has announced further rounds of layoffs next month and March that will cut 569 jobs from the steel foundry.
