Last week Alliance for American (AAM) West Virginia Field Coordinator Lou Delatore reported that West Virginia's entire Congressional delegation has signed on as co-sponsors of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011, a bill that addresses China’s illegally undervalued currency.

The Charleston Gazette also covered this story-- and quoted AAM’s Steven Capozzola’s praise for this important piece of legislation and the members of Congress who support it:

"They realize we are in a trade war. Our domestic manufacturing is being hindered by currency manipulation, which makes it hard for our manufacturing sector to be competitive with other countries,.”

According to the Gazette, Rep. Nick J. Rahall, (D-WV) supports the bill because it is estimated that one million American jobs could be restored if China stops manipulating its currency, and his colleague Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) praised the bill’s tough stance on China’s trade policies:

"It's time we get tough on unfair Chinese trade practices. Their persistent violations of international trade laws, as well as the manipulation of their currency, have serious consequences on the rest of the world and northern West Virginia."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) also reiterated the need to crack down on China’s trade policies during a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing on illegal subsidies:

“This is an issue of great importance to the people of West Virginia. Few states have been hit as hard as we have by foreign competitors using unscrupulous practices to push American businesses out of the marketplace and put American workers on the unemployment line…The working class men and women of my state deserve the comfort of knowing that their government will defend their jobs against illegal actors.”

We’re pleased to see that West Virginia legislators from both sides of the aisle are standing up to fight China’s illegal currency manipulation. We're glad that these lawmakers recognize that passage of the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2011 could help create manufacturing jobs and improve the economy in their state and for the nation as a whole.

AAM applauds these efforts, and hopes that the groundswell of support for this bill we’re seeing in West Virginia will soon be evident in states across the nation.

Learn more about what you can do to urge passage of legislation to address China's currency peg.