AFS meets with Government officials.

In late February, leaders from AFS convened in Washington, D.C. to host a House of Representatives Small Business Committee breakfast to discuss the metalcasting industry and the issues confronting it.

AFS leaders sat with members of Congress and congressional staff as AFS Government Affairs Committee Chairman Dave Bumbar, Aurora Metals LLC., delivered a speech on the importance of the metalcasting industry to the U.S. economy. Bumbar spoke of the regulatory burdens that the industry finds itself under averaging $7,000/yr. for firms with fewer than 20 employees.

He also addressed the costs that will be associated with the recently passed Iron Steel MACT emissions standards and OSHA's proposed change to the permissible silica exposure level. Bumbar also stressed the need for tax benefits that encourage domestic manufacturing.

After the breakfast, Bumbar, AFS Incoming President Chuck Kurtti and AFS Incoming Vice President Jim Keffer, EBAA Iron Sales Inc., spent the afternoon meeting with House of Representatives and Senate officers discussing the importance of the metalcasting industry. The group met with U.S. Reps. Phil English (R-Pa.) and Ralph Hall (R-Texas) as well as Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) and Jon Comyn (R-Texas).