Political Quotes

“the devastating job losses we are currently seeing across our economy have reaffirmed my conviction that Congress must redirect U.S. international trade policy toward preserving American jobs through stringent enforcement of U.S. trade rights, rather than endlessly pursuing new free trade agreements. Shifting the focus of U.S. trade strategy to job preservation is particularly essential in the manufacturing sector, which since 1994--the year NAFTA came into effect--has lost over 4.2 million jobs. The economic downturn over the past year has further decimated U.S. manufacturers, which have shed over 600,000 jobs in 2008 alone. It is no coincidence that this withering of our country's once- unparalleled manufacturing base took place during a decade-and-a-half of record trade liberalization and increases in imports from large, often poorly regulated low-cost producers like China and India. In Maine, my constituents have seen this down-side of trade, with over 20,000 manufacturing jobs lost since 2000, mainly in paper and wood-working industries that have suffered from unfair competition from Asian imports. To stem the outflow of American manufacturing jobs due to trade competition with countries that manipulate their currencies, exploit their workers or wantonly degrade their environment, it is essential that we decisively enforce the trade agreements we already have in place.”