Commerce Secretary Rebukes Rep. Walorski in Letter
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross responded to Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., complaining that her latest letter is wrong to say that his department has not provided "a substantive and comprehensive response" to her earlier questions and complaints about the Section 232 exclusion process.
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Her Oct. 17 letter (see 1910170066), which also included data to back up its claims, described thousands of rejections based on objections that do not meet the department's standards, as described in the regulations for the exclusion process. It also asked questions about the process, such as why exclusions were not partially granted when objectors admitted they only had the capacity to fill part of a request.
Ross said that in a meeting in June between Commerce staffers and her staff, they addressed the concerns in the previous letters. "This is in addition to at least 225 e-mail exchanges between the Department and your staff on this subject, including over 180 e-mail exchanges with your current and former Chiefs of Staff, and at least four conference calls, over the last year and a half," the letter said. "As you know, the Department has granted more than 180 exclusions related to your constituents, while also receiving over 135,000 exclusion requests, 43,000 objections, 16,000 rebuttals, and 8,000 sur-rebuttals. Your letter paints an inaccurate picture of our hitherto cooperative working relationship on this vital national security issue."
A spokesman for Walorski, who has made the Section 232 exclusion process a signature issue, said that the June briefing "covered a handful of the issues raised in the March 11 and April 30 letters, but numerous unanswered questions remain, in addition to new issues raised in the October 17 letter." Walorski's staff hopes there will be another briefing, and the letter said the legislative liaison is available for further discussion.