Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, has been named a member of the Pennsylvania Veterans' Memorial Commission, the panel responsible for funding and maintaining the monument to state veterans at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County.

The Pennsylvania Veterans' Memorial, dedicated in 2001, is the first in Pennsylvania to honor veterans of all eras from the Revolutionary War forward.

Ellis said the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs offers a "virtual tour" of the memorial at www.state.us/PA_Exec/Military_Affairs/vets-mem.

During Tuesday's House Ways and Means Committee budget hearing, U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-3rd, urged Treasury Secretary John Snow and the administration to get tough on China's unfair trade practices, or face congressional backlash against increased trade initiatives.

Additionally, English told the secretary that layoffs in America's manufacturing sector, pointing to the recent layoffs of 89 steelworkers at Wheatland Tube Co., underscore the need for action.

"It's a new year and a new Congress, but China's unfair and illegal trade practices, not only remain, but grow increasingly egregious," said English, a member of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee.

"I urge in the strongest terms, the administration to do the right thing and enforce our trade laws against China's indisputable violations. Otherwise, I fear Congress and much of America will lose its appetite for expanded trade with the world," he said in a news release.

English participated in last week's hearing with Snow and asked pointed questions about U.S. plans to bring China into line with its World Trade Organization obligations, specifically the manipulation of the yuan and surge of pipe and tube exports to the U.S. market.

English told Snow he would again introduce legislation to impose tariffs on China equal to the amount of currency manipulation, improve the enforceability of domestic trade laws, and allow American companies to retaliate against Chinese subsidization of its exporters.

State Rep. Frank LaGrotta, D-10th, wants to increase the public recognition of libraries by co-sponsoring a House resolution that would designate April 10 to 16 as "National Library Week" in Pennsylvania.