Walter B. Jones: “today at 10 o'clock I had the pleasure of being with my good friend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) as we attended…”

“today at 10 o'clock I had the pleasure of being with my good friend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) as we attended an interfaith alliance meeting of religious leaders across this Nation and outside of America, really, because they were from the five Central American countries that are in the CAFTA agreement. It was quite an impressive ceremony. We had religious leaders that care about justice and freedom and opportunities, and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) and I had a chance to speak. I will tell you that these religious leaders from across this Nation, as well as from the Central American countries, are opposed to CAFTA. I am opposed to CAFTA. Let me say this: We all agree that we need to have trade relationships with these five Central American countries, but this is not the right agreement. I was so impressed, and I am sure my friend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) will speak pretty soon about this, that these people were so committed to justice and fairness and opportunity, not just for those in Central America, but those here in America. I think about my home State of North Carolina. We passed NAFTA, which Ross Perot said of in the 1991 debates, ``You know, when we talk about all this NAFTA for Mexico, we are talking about jobs being sucked out of America.'' I will tell you truthfully, in my home State of North Carolina, since 1993 we have lost over 200,000 manufacturing jobs.…”