Hunter was on WHO-AM, Des Moines this morning - look for the podcast at http://www.mickelson.libsyn.com/ - talked a lot about immigration in light of one of the raided Swift plants being in Iowa.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/elections/16215784.htm
Hunter, 2008 presidential hopeful, finds support from Milliken
Dec. 11, 2006
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Trade agreements with China and other nations put the United States at a disadvantage, said Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, who found textile magnate Roger Milliken among his supporters during a visit here.
Hunter, a congressman from California, visited Sunday to gauge support for a 2008 presidential bid. Milliken, a textile executive, said he was a "longtime supporter" of Hunter, who wants to protecting manufacturing in the United States.
"As head of the Armed Services Committee, he's seen the terrible damage that's been done to the military of the United States because we've lost our manufacturing base," Milliken said. "A lot of the products that go into our military weaponry, we're now dependent on foreigners to make. And that's not a good situation to be in."
China subsidizes manufacturers of products that are exported to the United States to the point where they generally operate tax free, and then charges this country to import those goods, Hunter said. Similar scenarios happen with more than 100 other countries, Hunter said.
"Textiles were merely the canary in the mine," Milliken said. "We were just the first industry to be hit."
Hunter also spoke highly of Milliken.
"People who are keeping manufacturing in the United States, in my estimation, are true heroes," he said. "And as it gets tougher and tougher, they get more heroic."