Byron Dorgan: “this legislation deals with trade. Let me describe what was announced this morning by the administration. Last year's…”

“this legislation deals with trade. Let me describe what was announced this morning by the administration. Last year's trade deficit was $618 billion. You can see from this chart what has happened in the last 8 or 9 years. Our trade deficit has gone in the red by a dramatic amount, ending up at $618 billion for 2004. What does that mean? That means we purchased from other countries $618 billion worth of goods more than we sold to other countries. In other words, every single day, 7 days a week, $1.8 billion leaves this country and goes into foreign hands to pay for goods that we purchased from abroad. As a result, foreign entities have $2.5 trillion worth of claims against our assets, our property, our stocks, and our assets. We are, with our trade policies, selling America. With China alone, we have a $161 billion trade deficit. This is unbelievably out of balance. We purchase China's trinkets, trousers, shirts, and shoes. Now they're making plans to ship Chinese automobiles to this country. By the way, as I told my colleagues before, in the last trade agreement with China we agreed they could charge a tariff on imported U.S. cars which is 10 times higher than the tariff we can charge on Chinese cars sold in the United States. Who did that? I don't know; some trade negotiator. It is the same old story with cars from China, cars from Korea, wheat to China, beef to Japan. It is the same old story.…”