On the recordOctober 12, 2011
As policymakers, it is our job to learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them. Nearly 700,000 American jobs have been lost as a direct result of NAFTA. In my district, the 43rd Congressional District, we have lost over 2,000 jobs since the passage of NAFTA and other trade agreements; and the United States has gone from a $1.6 billion trade surplus to a $97 billion trade deficit with Mexico. Yet we stand this week ready to pass three more NAFTA-style trade agreements: Korea, Colombia, and Panama. My constituents face a 15 percent unemployment rate. They need us to create jobs, not shift them overseas where thousands of jobs will be sent. I ask you, who benefits from these trade deals? Not the American working families. Major corporations are the ones who benefit with this misguided agreement. This is a debate about the haves and the have-nots. It is time to stand up for working families. I say it's time to stand up for working families and do the right thing for the American people. ____________________
