Lee Metcalf: “tonight I address the House and the Nation for what is probably the last time. I am proud of the accomplishments during…”

“tonight I address the House and the Nation for what is probably the last time. I am proud of the accomplishments during my tenure here. Welfare reform instantly comes to mind. Effectively dedicating the gas tax fund to transportation was another milestone. While, regrettably, government spending continues to increase, the rate of that increase slowed by about 50 percent during the last 6 years, giving confidence to Wall Street and staving off the budgetary meltdown that we were headed for. It is possible that that was only delayed, not eliminated, however. There is much more to be done in many areas. I frankly am very concerned about the future of this Nation and its great people. The sovereignty of the United States is at risk. Supernational trade agreements, including WTO, NAFTA, and GATT, are removing the ability of this Nation to set its own economic policy, giving power to unelected foreign bureaucrats to make important decisions about how we live, including the power to abrogate laws enacted constitutionally by the people's representatives. This is being done in the name of free trade, a classroom abstract concept which gives the impression that trade takes place between free, unfettered individuals on a level playing field who just happen to live in different countries. In the real world, there is no such thing as free trade. Other nations of the world have had this understanding.…”