Political Quotes

“While we are waiting, my good friend from Texas and I have worked on a lot of things together. We disagree on this particular point. For clarity purposes, we are talking about 27 pages of standards that are part of this trade promotion authority. We are talking about the addition of three principle negotiating objectives. It is not one-size-fits-all any more than it is one-size-fits-all on the other 27 pages of standards. We are taking, what is already partly in the bill, to the credit of the manager of this bill, several provisions in the United States-Jordan Free Trade Agreement. My colleague said this was a foreign policy document, not a trading agreement. If that were the case, why did we add provisions that expanded the concerns about child labor and discrimination in the workplace, forced labor, the rights of free association? If we merely wanted to do a foreign policy document, we would have had a barebones agreement with Jordan, if it was just to send a message that we wanted to be of some help. But, no, we incorporated collective wisdom and included the dynamic principles we care about into the Jordan Agreement. This is about America. It is not fair to Americans who lose their jobs because of a trading agreement, where some other country can hire children, discriminate in the workplace or disregard the rights they signed on to in the International Labor Organizations. That gives them a tremendous advantage at the expense of America.”