Political Quotes

“Colleagues, this is an important moment for this House and for the people of our Nation. There is a real problem--China's persistent manipulation of its currency. That requires real action, and under our leadership, real action is now being taken in this House. China's practices represent, as the Secretary of the Treasury indicated in his testimony before us, ``a major distortion in the global economy.'' For our country, it is impacted on our trade deficit with China--in 2009, $226 billion--and it is impacted on our jobs. Their goods come to us, as a result of their manipulation, cheaper, and our goods to them, more expensive. There is a 15-35 or 40 percent imbalance, a tilted field of competition. The estimates mean 500,000 to 1.5 million jobs. This manipulation is one of the causes of the outsourcing of our jobs-- of manufacturing and other good jobs. Talk hasn't worked. Less than 2 percent appreciation has occurred since just before the last G-20 meeting when the Chinese said that they would make their currency more flexible. Additional steps are needed, and this bill is just such a step. So, after 2 days of hearings before our committee, I worked over the weekend with our majority staff to modify, to make sure this bill was fully compliant with our international WTO obligations. It is compliant. China has an economic strategy. For our businesses and workers, it is vital that our Nation has an active economic strategy, and this is one important piece of that strategy.”