On the recordOctober 12, 2011
I would like to insert into the Record a statement from the National Council of Textile Organizations in opposition to the Korea free trade agreement. Textile Workers Deliver 27,000 Petitions Urging ``No'' Vote on U.S.- Korea FTA United States Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) 2,584 Petitions Signed The U.S. textile industry has witnessed firsthand the damage that poorly constructed trade agreements inflict on textile and apparel producers in our country. The industry requested that the Obama Administration renegotiate the textile and apparel chapter of the Korea FTA and was ignored. At a time when our country's unemployment rate remains at record high levels, the industry would like to count on you to stand up for textile jobs and vote NO when this poorly negotiated agreement comes up for a vote. The textile industry is creating jobs in the United States. Exports have increased more than 16 percent this year alone. The industry is experiencing a shift of sourcing by brands and retailers out of China and into the Western Hemisphere in order to take advantage of the hemisphere's unique trading relationship and its ability to quickly supply major retailers in the U.S. Enacting the Korea FTA will reverse this positive trend. The reality is that this agreement benefits China and a select group of Korean exporters while it hurts U.S. textile workers. Please Vote NO on H.R. 3080, the U.S. Korea Free Trade Agreement
