Bill Pascrell: “In the last 6 months, we have gained 136,000 manufacturing jobs, private jobs. It's one of the few pluses that we can…”

“In the last 6 months, we have gained 136,000 manufacturing jobs, private jobs. It's one of the few pluses that we can refer to. So there is hope for the future in terms of manufacturing if we do the right thing. I rise in support of H.R. 1875, the End the Trade Deficit Act... The United States has run a persistent trade deficit with the world since 1978, including structural deficits with several major trading partners year after year. This includes a $220 billion trade deficit with China alone. In 2001, just think of it, 9 years ago, China was granted admission to the World Trade Organization, that number was $84 billion. It's increased in 9 years by $136 billion. One study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates that the dramatic increase in our trade deficit with China alone has cost this country 2.4 million jobs. The American people, the middle class, know that our trade policy has not worked for them. They see it in their everyday lives. My hometown of Paterson, New Jersey, I still live there. We close factories. We reopen them south of the border or overseas. Why haven't we stopped the hemorrhaging of jobs to places offshore?”