Steelworker Dan Hill and wife Heather Hill in the Oval Office on the morning of President Obama’s State of the Union Address. (Photo via the Steelworkers)
Iron Range Steelworker Dan Hill of Hibbing was the guest of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) at President Obama’s final State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. Hill is currently laid off from his job as a millwright at United Taconite in Eveleth.
Hill spend the entire day meeting with officials and elected officials. He argued for high tariffs on dumped foreign steel. He argued for relief for Range miners caught in a global economic chess match.
A story in the Star Tribune in November featured Hill and his family explaining the effects of the mining downturn on their lives. Hill has been the face of the Iron Range mining family ever since.
President Obama delivered a sweeping address last night, a stylistic departure from the typical State of the Union address. In terms of national politics, the president’s final State of the Union seemed to be received in typical fashion along partisan lines.
I think the large mass of relatively apolitical people who supported the president in 2008 and 2012 saw the man they liked, and the hopeful view of America and Americans they want. But South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s Republican response was also well received, for similar reasons. It now comes down to the business of policy, collaboration and compromise.
Many here on the Iron Range were hoping for a hint, any kind of clue from President Obama that addressing the domestic iron and steel industries was on his 2016 agenda. He didn’t give any specific language to the issue, though did talk generally about fair trade and jobs. His support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade agreement is a sticking point between the Steelworkers and President Obama.
Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders talked with Hill after the speech.
Nevertheless, Hill got a meeting in the Oval Office with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the morning of the State of the Union. That meeting, Hill says, indicated the issue is on the White House agenda. That might be more important than language in the speech.
Only time will tell. International trade is complex, and there are price factors baked into the global steel glut that aren’t solely related to trade law. One hopes for fairness, and that American manufacturers who like the cheap import steel won’t hold up the works.
Hill’s work representing Iron Range miners throughout this economic crisis has not gone unnoticed. He’s been very impressive in both closed-door and public meetings. Articulate and sincere, he has calmly won people over. It’s hard to imagine Iron Range Steelworkers finding a better representative for their cause.
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