Byron Dorgan: “let me talk about the Oman Free Trade Agreement. There are nine additional free-trade agreements being negotiated right…”

“let me talk about the Oman Free Trade Agreement. There are nine additional free-trade agreements being negotiated right now, nine of them. This past week there was an announcement that the monthly trade deficit is now $68 billion a month; a $68 billion monthly trade deficit. If ever there was a definition of failure, this is it. So here is what we have: We have the good old boys negotiating trade agreements--Republicans and Democrats. They happen to be Republicans now because they are in power, but it has gone on for some long while. Here is what you see: Trade deficits, which are represented by a mountain of red ink--or a deep valley of red ink in the case of this chart--the highest trade deficit in history, an unbelievable trade deficit. No country has ever had these kinds of deficits. They will have significant consequences for our country. These deficits must be paid for with a lower standard of living in our country. Every single day, we send $2 billion out to foreign countries because we import $2 billion more than we export. That means every single day we are selling $2 billion of this country. We are selling America piece by piece. Does this give anybody pause? Is anybody concerned? No. You know what we need to do? Let's do another trade agreement.…”