Political Quotes

“Madam President, I come to the floor as one of a bipartisan group of my colleagues, proud to be a cosponsor of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act, legislation that will send a clear and direct message to China that the time for playing games with American jobs is over. As many of my colleagues have already explained on the floor, the effects of China's currency manipulation are damaging to our economy. It is estimated that China is undervaluing their yuan by more than 28 percent. What does that mean? It means Chinese goods coming into the United States are unfairly cheap, while goods made in the United States are unfairly expensive when they are exported to China. In other words, it means U.S. goods are less competitive in China, and Chinese goods do have an unfair advantage in the United States. The results of this distorted arrangement are harrowing: reduced American wages, decreased GDP, and lost American jobs. Since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, our trade deficit with them went from $84 billion in 2001 to $273 billion in 2010, an increase of close to $200 billion. Madam President, $273 billion is larger than the U.S. trade deficit with the OPEC countries, the EU countries, Canada, Japan, and Mexico combined. This trade deficit has eliminated or displaced over 2.8 million American jobs over the last 10 years.…”