Wendy Sherman: “I rise in support of TAA assistance and therefore oppose this weakening amendment. But we should recognize that TAA is a…”

“I rise in support of TAA assistance and therefore oppose this weakening amendment. But we should recognize that TAA is a Band-Aid on a self-inflicted wound. Our trade policies are gutting the American economy far beyond the ability of TAA to ameliorate the pain. What is obvious is the loss of individual industrial plants. What is less visible is the increase in our interest rates and a decline in our national industrial base. Today, let us adopt the Band-Aid, but let us not use the presence of those Band-Aids as an excuse for further self-inflicted wounds. Today, we should pass TAA. Tomorrow, let us stop the bleeding. Let us not adopt trade agreements that increase our trade deficit. And let us begin to renegotiate existing trade agreements so that they are based on results rather than based on form. Let us build an economy where demand for labor is so high that instead of hearing stories of pain from workers, we are hearing from employers fighting for every available employee. Let us hear of a dollar that is more valuable than the Euro and let us have a trade policy that for every dollar of imports, we match it with a dollar of exports. Until then, there are workers who are in pain, who are casualties of our ill-conceived trade policies. They need and deserve our help.”