LAUREL — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) paid a special visit to the Pine Belt Wednesday, visiting the Sunbeam plant in Waynesboro and the Laurel Kiwanis Club.

In July, Wicker testified to the International Trade Commission (ITC) about the importance of the Jarden Consumer Solutions facility to the economy of Waynesboro. Wicker went to bat last year for the company after Jarden claimed China was “dumping” (selling at less than fair value) imported woven electric blankets into the market.

The Waynesboro facility, which is celebrating 51 years in business, is a manufacturer of woven electric blankets, and is the last U.S. factory to do so.

William M. Sullivan, plant manager for Jarden, said Wicker has always been open and inviting any time the company has an issue.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to him,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan noted that Jarden has 288 permanent employees and approximately 290 temporary or seasonal workers. He said August and September are the peak season for the company.

“This is an enormously important facility for the City of Waynesboro and Wayne County,” he said.

As part of Wicker’s visit, the Senator participated in a meeting with plant management and toured the nearly 900,000-square-foot facility.

Wicker also spoke to a large group of employees gathered in the plant’s production area.

“As a Senator, my job is to protect Mississippi jobs and enhance employment opportunities for Mississippians,” he said. “There was no hesitation, also Sunbeam was in the right being unfairly treated by these Chinese dumping practices.”

Wicker said this was the first time he had ever appeared before the ITC.

“I left a hearing with Gen. David Petraeus on the issue of Afghanistan, and went over to the ITC,” he said. “We had the law and fairness on our side. I would have been very surprised if it had gone the other way.”

Wicker said it was “wonderful” to be back in Waynesboro, noting that it reminded him of his hometown of Pontotoc.

“I know how much it means to have a company like Sunbeam,” he said. “Since 1959, you and your parents before you, your aunts and uncles and children have been working hard. You deserve all of the success you’ve had.”

Wicker also credited U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) for co-signing the request for ITC involvement in the matter.

“We don’t mind the competition,” he said. “We just wanted to compete fairly. They want to try to wipe this plant out and then they’ll raise their prices.”

After visiting the Sunbeam plant Wednesday morning, Wicker served as the guest speaker for the Laurel Kiwanis Club at the Laurel County Club.

Wicker addressed a number of issues including the national debt, which he said is $13 trillion and climbing.

“Our deficit last year was $1.4 trillion, which means after all of the revenue was received, it wasn’t enough,” he said. “Congress and the President spent $1.4 trillion.”

Wicker said this year’s deficit is expected to be $1.34 trillion, and another $1.26 trillion next year.

“That’s $4 trillion added to the national debt in three short years,” he said.

Wicker said that debt is being handed off to his only grandchild, 5-year-old Caroline McPhillips, who lives in Jackson.

“Her generation and perhaps even her children’s generation are the ones we’re passing that amount of debt on to,” he said.

Wicker said he fought “long and hard” against the federal health care takeover, which will be settled in the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The question is whether the federal government can tell an individual he or she must buy something for his own good,” he said. “It’s an interesting question for the federal courts to answer.”

Wicker noted that states have long wrestled with Medicaid and Medicare funding, which is covered jointly by federal and state governments.

“With the new health care law, Congress and the President are telling Mississippi that it’s got to provide more coverage under Medicaid and come up with money to pay for it,” he said. “It’s a mandate, and not really a partisan issue.”

Wicker noted that Democratic Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen called Medicaid funding under the new law “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”

“The bill takes us in the wrong direction,” he said. “We need health care reform, but a British-Canadian style takeover is not the answer either.”

Wicker also addressed a probable automatic tax increase, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2011. He said Congressional tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 would expire at the end of the year, resulting in the “largest tax increase in the history of the country.”

“There will be a debate when we go back in September about how important it is not to raise taxes in an economy that’s already struggling,” he said. “In my view, the stimulus has not worked. The unemployment rate has climbed from 7.6 percent two years ago to now 9.5 percent.”

Wicker argued against claims that the tax cuts caused the decline in the economy, instead blaming Wall Street’s subprime mortgage crisis.

“I voted time and again to shine the light on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” he said. “The financial reform laws were really hard on local banks, and didn’t do anything to Fannie and Freddie and the credit rating agencies that gave the false ratings.”

Wicker noted that the way to get the economy going again is to assure small business owners that taxes will not be raised, and to free up loans so that they can get capital and hire additional employees.

Wicker also praised President Bush, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Petraeus for their efforts in Iraq.

“I think we have won the war, and I hope we’ll give them the support they still need,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll not do as we did in Vietnam. I hope this will be an example to the people of Afghanistan that we’ll stick with them until we get the job done.”