Peter Visclosky: “Mr. Speaker, we live in a global economy and we are engaged in a global competition. I know this and so do the tens of…”

“Mr. Speaker, we live in a global economy and we are engaged in a global competition. I know this and so do the tens of thousands of working Americans that I represent. The people I represent in northwest Indiana are not afraid of competition. They embrace it, because they work hard and do their job better than anyone else in the world. The steel workers and other working men and women I represent are happy to trade their products in the world's markets, but in trading their products, they do not want to trade away a living wage. For half a century, the people of America, at the cost of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, have fought and worked to export the unique American value of democracy. As we look back on history and at the world today, we can see we have achieved success in doing so. But as we stand here today, we must think about exporting another important American value, the value that hard work is rewarded.”