FTC: Made In The USA Comments Concerning Lena M. Toner--P894219

07 May 97

Federal Trade Commission
Correspondence Branch
Washington, D C 20580

Lena M. Toner
P.O. Box 19
Belt, MT 59412

Dear FTC

I am writing in reference to your recent consideration to drop the percentage requirement on "Made in the USA" labels from 98% to 75%. I'm sure that I represent a great number of proud Americans who work daily for this country, and want to continue to support it.

I was born in a small town with a mom and dad who brought me up to believe in this country and all it was originally built on. They are both teamsters, we only buy American cars (although a majority of it's parts are bought overseas today), and we find pride in buying as much as possible that is made in America. Seventy-five percent of my immediate family has served in the military, or is currently, and we believe in our own country being priority one.

I recently spent some time in Kuwait with the military, and they, as you most likely know, hire almost all of their labor from out of country. As a whole, they do very little for themselves. As Americans, our very basis of survival from the beginning has been to be as self sufficient and promote our own abilities to show the rest of the world that we can compete, and beat. We need to continue to support our own abilities, and continue to recycle our money into ourselves, focusing on "home."

My main point, is that dropping our standard from 98% Made in USA to only 75%, means to me that we arc saying we need to get 25% of our labor and/or materials from other countries who may be cheaper or produce less quality for less money. Don't you feel that quality is more important? We need to be putting our money back into America, and raising the standard of what we produce, not settling for something made somewhere else which results in less jobs and a poorer American economy.

I may just be an "average" American, but I care, and I know there are a lot more people out there who feel the same way I do, so please leave the standard above 90%. We need to know that we are supporting our country the best we can, and when we see that label "Made in the USA," we want to know that we are buying quality and supporting others right here at home.

Thank You,