What's left of the textile company that my father started in 1972 is headquartered 
at 160 Madison Avenue in your district.  We have a knitting mill in Soperton, Georgia where I spend a good deal of my time.

For those of us in the manufacturing industry, it comes as no surprise that the economy is troubled. We have long held the belief that unless something is taken from the earth (farming, mining, etc.) or transformed from one form to another (manufacturing), there can be no sustainable economic growth.  Alan Greenspan's economic vision of the United States as a producer of ideas seems little more than an apology for a trade policy that is failing the American people and costing jobs;  2.6 million in manufacturing since President Bush took office; 300,000 in textile and apparel.

Under the current WTO trade agreement there is provision for enacting import quotas on product from any country whose dumping practices has disrupted the market and caused severe job loss.  A textile coalition has petitioned CITA to implement the safeguard provision against China. 

I hope you can recognize this small issue as a microcosm of a national disaster waiting to happen.  I implore you to pressure the President to implement the safeguard. 

This is a grassroots movement with the potential power of a sleeping giant. I have been working this issue with colleagues for just a few days now and the response is incredibly powerful. People that I contact are dropping their daily routine to participate in this effort. In Soperton, in just 24 hours and with two phone calls, I was able to bring together politicians, chambers of commerce, manufacturers, technical schools and workers from 3 counties to focus on this issue. 

Economist Robert Reich has predicted that free trade policy will continue only as long as the number of people unemployed does not reach a critical mass. I believe that mass has been reached.

Please pressure the President on this issue. 

It is critical and time sensitive.