Brian Jones: “I thank the gentleman for the time. Every time a President, Democrat or Republican, asks Congress to approve a trade…”

“I thank the gentleman for the time. Every time a President, Democrat or Republican, asks Congress to approve a trade deal, they give us these wild optimistic projections for how many jobs these deals are going to create. Sadly, this administration is no different. President Obama has suggested that the Korea free trade agreement will create 70,000 new jobs. The record shows just how wrong that claim is. In the 1990s, President Clinton suggested that NAFTA would create over 200,000 jobs. Well, here's the reality: Since NAFTA passed in December 1993, America has lost 5.15 million jobs. Lost 5.15 million manufacturing jobs. And 384,000 of these jobs were lost in my home State of North Carolina. In 2005 President Bush claimed that CAFTA was a ``pro-jobs bill'' that would stem the tide of U.S. manufacturing job losses. But since CAFTA passed in September of 2005, America has lost 2.4 million manufacturing jobs. Here we have roughly 9.1 percent unemployment in this country, due in no small part to the Washington elite jamming these job-destroying trade agreements down our throats. Americans do not want more ``free trade.'' A recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed that 69 percent of the American people believe that free trade has cost American jobs. The poll shows that 61 percent of Tea Party supporters believe that trade agreements have hurt this Nation.…”