Posted on 08/08/2003 8:44:36 AM PDT by RicocheT
US smart bomb technology unit to move to China
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., have made another move in their efforts to prevent the closure of the Magnequench facility in Valparaiso and its re-location to the People’s Republic of China.
According to a statement released Friday, Visclosky and Bayh have requested the U.S. Department of the Treasury to release the facts of its investigation into its review of Magnequench’s sale in 1995 to a consortium which included Chinese interests and Magnequench’s acquisition in 2000 of the Valparaiso facility.
Visclosky also asked the House Armed Services Committee to review the contracts which Magnequench currently holds with the Department of Defense.
The closure of the Magnequench facility in Valparaiso would cost the jobs of 225 Northwest Indiana residents and “transfer sensitive bomb-making technology to China,” the statement said. According to the Department of Defense, 80 percent of the rare-earth magnets used in the production of smart bombs come from the Valparaiso facility. “In addition to costing more than 200 working families their livelihoods, the transfer of the facility to China raises serious industrial base concerns.”
“It is our obligation as public servants to pull out all the stops for the workers and their families who will lose their livelihoods,” Visclosky said. “I do not intend to leave anything on the table. I will use every resource at my disposal, and I am very grateful to have Sen. Bayh’s full support and cooperation in this effort.”
“The workers at Magnequench deserve a full explanation as to why their jobs are headed overseas,” Bayh said. “Moving 225 jobs out of Indiana, at a time when the economy is already in a weakened state, disregards the needs of hundreds of Hoosier families. We deserve answers not only about the economic impact of this move, but also about the potential threat to national security that it creates.”
Visclosky and Bayh added that the potential transfer of these operations to China raises new questions about maintaining both a significant source of domestic production of rare-earth magnets and U.S. technological leadership.
It's not that hard. National security trumps all laws. From Evan Bayh's website:
"Bayh and Visclosky are asking President Bush to prevent the relocation under the Exon-Florio provision passed by Congress in 1988. The provision directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to examine the potential national security implications of foreign investment and deemed that when national security is at risk, CFIUS has the authority to recommend actions to the President. In this case, action would be taken to stop the relocation of Magnequench's Valparaiso facility to China."[emphasis mine]
bttt
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