Byron Dorgan: “the amendment pending on fast-track legislation, is the amendment I offered 2 days ago. It is an amendment called the…”

“the amendment pending on fast-track legislation, is the amendment I offered 2 days ago. It is an amendment called the End the Trade Deficit Act. It is S. 465, a piece of legislation that I previously introduced in the Senate that I now offer as an amendment. Let me describe why I bring this amendment to the floor of the Senate, especially when we are dealing with the fast-track legislation. Mr. President, this Congress has spent a great deal of time dealing with the fiscal policy budget deficit, and with some success. I might add that actions by the Congress and a healthy growing economy have substantially reduced the budget deficit. But there has been very little discussion about the other deficit. And that is the trade deficit. This country's trade deficit is the largest in history, and growing. For those who don't know much about the trade deficit, let me explain. Understandably you do not hear much about it. All we do is crow about our exports. We talk about how much we exported. Nobody talks about how much we have imported. It is like a business talking only about their receipts and refusing to talk about their expenditures. Here is the merchandise trade deficit. It is 21 years old. For 36 of the last 38 years we have had an overall trade deficit. For the last 21 years in a row we have had this merchandise trade deficit. This trade deficit represented here in red is getting worse--not better.…”