Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, yes, we are all concerned about the instability in parts of the world that we have trading partners in: Africa, the Caribbean, the Andean areas. We should be worried and concerned about them, because as trade partners, they need the wherewithal to buy our products. They need jobs to help bring stability to those areas. But as the chairman said, I am concerned about jobs in the United States, too, in one particular area, and that is in the area of textiles, which has been suffering for some years now, based in large part on some of our trading in the past. Mr. Speaker, this bill in no way is perfect. We understand that. The chairman has mentioned that. I remember back in the early part of this year I was in Thomaston, Georgia, meeting with the chamber of commerce and people representing agencies from the State and the Federal Government to talk about economic recovery, because the textile mill that had been in operation for 102 years made the announcement they were closing their doors, that they no longer could compete. As I sat and listened to those who presented all these good programs to help the people who were being displaced from their jobs, I made the comment, it is great to hear these people here with these offerings, but where were they when the patient was becoming ill?”