Bill Pascrell: “In the land of freedom, this may be the last time we debate the issue on the floor of the Congress, the Congress of the…”

“In the land of freedom, this may be the last time we debate the issue on the floor of the Congress, the Congress of the people, the House of the people; this may be the last time we debate the issue of trade with China. Sadly, this could be the last debate. We will never have the ability to voice our concerns about an authoritarian government whose regime this House has recently voted to coddle, to patronize. Free trade with China is an oxymoron. Check the record. Check the record. Mr. Speaker, I would like to use this time to talk about an even bigger picture. In his book, the Lexus in the Olive Tree, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman lays out what he calls globalization. Friedman's contention is that no longer will there be Democrats and Republicans, one will either be a free trader, or not; one will be a globalizer, or not. Globalization means the spread of free market capitalism to virtually every country in the world. He talks about how these trade agreements we are talking about are the wave of the future.”