John Sarbanes: “The reason we put in the environmental standards is we went through a long debate that indicated we were paying a very…”

“The reason we put in the environmental standards is we went through a long debate that indicated we were paying a very heavy health cost because we didn't have clean air and clean water. So we made the effort to get clean air and clean water, which I very strongly support. But now if you are going to go into international trade and your competitors are free of having to meet any of those standards, then they are... at a competitive advantage in dealing with you. I can't, for the life of me, understand why it is unreasonable or impermissible to bring the environmental concerns into the middle of the trade negotiations as well.”