Jesse Helms

October 18, 1921-July 4, 2008

Jesse Helms was a five-term (1973-2002) United States Senator from North Carolina, and a member of the Republican Party. He served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Helms was one of strongest supporters of the domestic U.S. textile industry in the U.S. Senate for three decades. He left a legacy of textile policies that survive him. His successful 2001 battle to prohibit third-country dying, printing and finishing in the Caribbean Basin and Sub-Saharan Africa trade preference programs established the precedent for similar language in the subsequent U.S. trade preference programs and free trade agreements. His support of the domestic wool textile industry in the 1990s on the question of tariffs on imported suiting fabrics was a highly important factor in bringing all parties to the table to negotiate the current wool program which represents a carefully crafted compromise supported by the three segments of the wool production chain.

Senator Helms was also a backer of the U.S. textile industry position on the three major textile bills that passed congress only to be vetoed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and President George Bush in the 1990s.

During the 52nd Annual meeting of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute (ATMI) in March 2001, ATMI President Roger W. Chastain, Mount Vernon Mills, Inc, presented Senator Helms with the prestigious Samuel Slater Award.