Chris Sununu: “in discussing this trade bill earlier today, and throughout the day, I think a lot of mention has been made of specific…”

“in discussing this trade bill earlier today, and throughout the day, I think a lot of mention has been made of specific firms--firms that over the past number of years have been affected by international trade. There was a list on the floor that included companies such as Levi's and Fruit of the Loom. That is a fact. These companies have been affected. They are eligible for the Trade Adjustment and Assistance Program, and that is one of the challenges of the job that we do as elected representatives. We see firms in States grow, but we also see them have to deal with challenges of competition, both domestic and international competition. In New Hampshire, my home State, we have had an electronics firm that saw its plastic molding jobs go to Mexico. But even more recently, we have seen a firm that did meat processing lose 500 or 600 jobs to some Midwestern States. So we see competition not just from overseas but domestically as well. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the jobs that are created. Over the past year, I think 2.5 million jobs have been created in the United States. Over the last decade, it is a significantly greater number than that. It has been in areas like software, pharmaceuticals, and financial services--significant, value-added, high-paying jobs. That brings me back to the very basic question of why we even trade in the first place.…”