Sam Brownback: “on this beautiful day in Washington, DC, we are about to create some great opportunities for Kansas farmers, Kansas…”

“on this beautiful day in Washington, DC, we are about to create some great opportunities for Kansas farmers, Kansas manufacturers, and opportunities of hope for people in Central America. That is to me what this CAFTA bill represents. I do not want to oversell it. I do not think it should be oversold. I do not think it is a panacea for democracy building or opportunity in Central America. I do not think it is a panacea for all my farmers and manufacturers in the State of Kansas. But I do think it is a little more good in the world, a little more good for opportunities for people in the United States, lowering tariffs and trade barriers in our neighborhood, in this region of the world, a little more good and opportunity for economic chances and opportunities in Central America and the Dominican Republic, chances that do not exist today, chances that are not doing well today in Central America, chances that are hurting the spread of democracy, free societies, even in our own hemisphere. I was troubled recently when I read a poll published by one of the major newspapers in this country. The poll was asking people in Central and South America would they give up their democracy if their economy would grow. In other words, if a dictator comes in and can produce economic reform and opportunity where you would have a growing economy instead of the stagnant situation you are in today, would you give up democracy? A surprisingly large number of people said yes.…”