Byron Dorgan: “in the coming days I assume there will be a lot of suspender-snapping, back-thumping, chortling, and crowing about the…”

“in the coming days I assume there will be a lot of suspender-snapping, back-thumping, chortling, and crowing about the new fast track trade agreement that was announced in the weekend press. There was a conference in the House and Senate. They came out with a new trade agreement. The moniker is trade promotion authority. It is a fancy way of saying fast-track trade authority for President Bush. I didn't support fast track trade authority for President Clinton, and I don't support it for President Bush. This is not a victory for our country. I assume, this week, because the conference report has passed the House, it will come to the Senate. We will have speeches by people wearing dark suits who talk about how wonderful this is for our country, what a wonderful thing it is that we now have fast-track trade authority. So some of our trade negotiators can go overseas somewhere, go into a room, close the door, lock it, keep the public out, and negotiate in secret a new trade agreement, and then come back to the Congress and say: Here it is. Take it or leave it. No amendments. Up or down. No changes. The people who apparently believe in this do not believe in the first law of holes; that is, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. They believe, if you find yourself in a hole, keep digging, look for more shovels. Let me talk for a moment about where we are with our trade deficits. This chart shows the record trade deficits we have seen over the past decade.…”