Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support H.R. 1875, a bill to establish an Emergency Trade Deficit Commission. This commission will examine the causes and the consequences of the United States' persistent and substantial trade deficits, and it will provide recommendations on how to address and reduce those deficits. Over the past 10 years, our trade deficits have been unprecedented. Before 2000, our largest trade deficit was in 1987 when the deficit was equal to 3.3 percent of GDP, but that 1987 deficit pales in comparison to the deficits we have had every year from 2000 through 2008. Indeed, in 2006, our trade deficit represented 6.4 percent of GDP, nearly twice as high as in 1987. These enormous trade deficits are corrosive. They lower our GDP. They weaken our economic growth. It is no surprise that global imbalances and, in particular, huge U.S. trade deficits have contributed to the global economic crisis that we are slowly recovering from. Our trade deficits are improving now, but this appears to be largely due to a still weak economic recovery, not to any structural policy change, and many economists are warning that massive global imbalances will return unless we take corrective action. Our recent trade deficits are due, in part, to a passive, hands-off approach to trade in the past. Proponents of this flawed approach mistakenly believed that our trade deficits would resolve themselves. Ignoring their effect on U.S.…”