Keith Ellison: “let me thank the Member from Maine for his excellent leadership, looking out for the hard-working people of this whole…”

“let me thank the Member from Maine for his excellent leadership, looking out for the hard-working people of this whole United States. It is true, I am honored to come from the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota, but as I stand before you tonight, Mr. Speaker, I am honored to associate myself with the Member from Maine, with the Member from Ohio and Pennsylvania, because working people all over America need a fair trade and balanced trade situation. We can no longer abide doing trade deals which essentially support environmental policies that degrade other nations, that degrade workers in other nations, and that degrade human rights in other nations, and then thereby give other nations a competitive advantage over us because of the exploitation and ignoring important environmental regulations. And it is all very important because we need leadership tonight, Mr. Speaker, leadership which is willing to stand up and be counted for the American people, leadership which will not go with the wind but will actually change the wind. That is the leadership we need at this time. Let me say that we need a trade policy that does three things, basically: respects workers' rights and their dignity; protects our fragile environment; and upholds basic human rights. Today's trade policies in America do only a few of those things but very little of what we need. What we see is a continual erosion at the very heart of America: the middle class.”