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Show Rep. Gunn McKay to Conduct Hearing Saturday on Utah's Steel Problem WASHINGTON Citing an "imminent economic crisis" in Utah County, Rep. Gunn McKay (D-Utah) announced he would conduct a public hearing on the impact of steel imports on Utah's steel industry in-dustry Saturday, Dec. 3, in Provo, Utah. "The situation is critical," said McKay, of the threat to 5,000 workers at U.S. Steel's Geneva Works, his district's largest private employer. "If there is a problem in Utah now, this is it." Rep. McKay, a member of the Executive Board of the House Steel Caucus, will" conduct con-duct the hearing along with Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa), also a Steel Caucus Executive Board member & representative represent-ative of Johnstown, Pa., one of the large steel producing tenters of America. "The impact of continued imports of cheap foreign steel on Utah's economy would be worse in net effect than the cancellation of the Central Utah Project and another bone dry winter combined. Not one family in the state would escape." "What would the closure of Geneva Steel, for example, do to Utah's coal industry, to the tax base, to schools, real estate values, retailers, our welfare system" There is no way of telling how far the damage would extend." The Utah Democrat issued an invitation to Utah County residents to attend the hearing scheduled for the Provo High School gymnasium, gym-nasium, Dec. 3, beginning at 3 p.m. McKay said representatives represen-tatives of steel companies, unions, merchants and concerned con-cerned groups would be invited in-vited to participate. There will also be time available to those wishing to be heard from the floor. McKay said the hearing would provide "Valuable input" in-put" for him and Rep. Murtha as they deal with other members mem-bers of the Caucus Executive Board in setting policy and arriving at solutions. "Inland steel companies like Geneva are rather rare," said McKay. "I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can represent Utah's peculiar interests in-terests on the Caucus. And, because our situation is unique, our voice has to be loud and it has to be clear. This hearing will focus our effort ef-fort and provide the unity we'll need to turn this situation around." |