Political Quotes

“Those amendments were approved by an overwhelming majority in the House who felt that, without the changes, the OECD Agreement failed to provide an effective mechanism for disciplining foreign shipbuilding subsidy practices. I should add that a number of Members in this body who have examined the agreement also share this view. The base agreement, coupled with the many loopholes and special concessions granted to foreign governments, would continue to place U.S. shipbuilders at a tremendous competitive disadvantage. For this reason, the largest U.S. shipbuilders, representing over 90 percent of all workers in the Nation's major shipbuilding base, opposed implementation of the agreement even though they were the primary advocates of an effective discipline on foreign government subsidy and dumping practices in the first place.”