WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall pledged his support for workers in Questa, N.M., who will be impacted by Chevron's decision to close its molybdenum mine, which has employed hundreds of New Mexicans for many years.
Udall visited with workers in Questa on Sunday and has been leading efforts to get Trade Adjustment Assistance and other help to enable the community rebuild its economy after the mine closes. In his speech, Udall said he is working to do all he can to support new jobs in New Mexico. As part of that effort, he urged the Senate to pass the Bring Jobs Home Act, which would protect American jobs and eliminate tax loopholes for corporations that move jobs overseas.
"The mine will close in Questa. We can't change that. We can't bring it back. Some folks say it feels like a death. And I'm sure it does - it has been the lifeblood of the community for so many years and for generations of families," Udall said in his speech.
"But folks there said something else too: When bad things happen, friends and family show up to do what they can to help," Udall continued. "We need to start showing up for the American worker, for the middle class, for towns all across our nation where the factory closed, where the jobs went away. The Bring Jobs Home Act is a start to create jobs, to build our economy here at home and to help communities in a world that is changing awfully fast."
Udall joined the full Senate in voting to begin debate on the Bring Jobs Home Act this morning. A vote on final passage is expected as early as this week.
Text of Udall's speech follows:
I am pleased that we were able to put partisan politics aside on today's vote and do what is right for American workers. I hope my colleagues will also vote for the final bill here. We must protect American jobs and eliminate tax loopholes for corporations that move jobs overseas.
Creating and supporting well-paying American jobs should be our top priority because the debate about jobs in America-and New Mexico-is not about politics. It's about people.
This past weekend I visited with some New Mexicans who are facing a very real and personal challenge about their future, and their livelihood.
In Questa, New Mexico, miners have worked for nearly a century. But that mine is now closing less than two weeks from today. Three hundred people will lose their jobs. For the workers, for their families, for local businesses, it is a hard time with tough questions and uncertain answers.
Just this past Sunday, I met with the miners to talk with them and, most important, to listen about what has happened in Questa and the future of a great community. This is about more than Chevron Corporation's decision to close the mine. It is about workers, who feel they were kept in the dark, who worry that help will be too little and too late.
My office is working closely with the community for Trade Adjustment Assistance to get the training and help they will need. Folks there are struggling, but they are committed to map out a new future for Questa: a post-mining economy, including ecotourism and renewable energy.
Families have lived and worked in Questa for generations. They know hard work and grit and determination. No one needs to tell them about that.
They helped build our country, they support their community, they follow the rules, they ask for only one thing in return: a fair chance. That's all, just a fair chance.
And let's be clear - for the Supreme Court, for those who seem to be confused on this point - these miners are people. Their families are people. Corporations are not people. Super PACs, buying our elections, they are not people. They are special interests with a lot of money and a lot of demands like special tax breaks - tax breaks that make no sense for real people with real problems and looking for real jobs.
We need to be doing all we can to create jobs, to keep building our economy. The Bring Jobs Home Act would help, for a tax policy that brings jobs home, not one that rewards sending them away. Almost two and a half million jobs are gone over the past 10 years, shipped overseas and paid for by American taxpayers by families like those in Questa, footing the bill.
The Bring Jobs Home Act would do two important things. One, end the tax loophole for outsourcing jobs. If corporations want to send a job overseas, they can do so, but at their own expense -- not the American taxpayer.
Two, create the right incentives: giving a tax credit for companies that bring jobs back home. This is a pretty simple idea: Let's reward what helps and stop rewarding what doesn't.
The Bring Jobs Home Act would do something else too for the middle class in this country, for workers and families. It will say we hear you, your voice matters too and all the super PAC dollars can't change that.
We can create jobs right here at home. We can keep growing our economy and help communities with a tax policy that builds them up and invests in the future. That is something to fight for. That is the kind of fairness that folks want and deserve in Questa, in my state, and in our country.
The mine will close in Questa. We can't change that. We can't bring it back. Some folks say it feels like a death. The day that door closes, it feels almost like a funeral, like a part of them dies with the mine. And I'm sure it does. It has been the lifeblood of the community for so many years and for generations of families.
But folks there said something else too: When bad things happen, friends and family show up to do what they can to help.
We need to start showing up for the American worker, for the middle class, for towns all across our nation where the factory closed, where the jobs went away.
The Bring Jobs Home Act is a start to create jobs, to build our economy here at home and to help communities in a world that is changing awfully fast. It is a step in the right direction. And I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
