Political Quotes

“free trade advocates say that NAFTA has nothing to do with fast track. That's not true. NAFTA has everything to do with fast track. NAFTA was negotiated under fast track, and look at what NAFTA has brought us. The evidence is clear. America has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. And not only has it brought us a $16 billion trade deficit with Mexico, it's brought us lower wages, weaker consumer protections, and a dirtier environment. It's rolled back all of the advances we made this century and brought us back to the 19th century. Instead of leading us into the 21st century, it's dragging us down. That isn't sound public policy, no matter how you look at it. Free trade advocates say that the economy is booming. That may be statistically accurate, but let's take a closer look at what NAFTA has meant for American working families. Although the U.S. economy grew at a robust 4 percent in 1994 and productivity increased by about 2 percent, American workers did not share in these gains. The wages of American workers have continued to fall since NAFTA was implemented. In NAFTA's first year, American workers saw the sharpest one year drop of their real hourly wages. The real median wage fell by over 2 percent, continuing a 20 year downward trend. The evidence shows that not only did we lost American jobs, the American working men and women have seen a reduction in their wages as well.”