Watson Coleman: “I happen to be a very strong supporter of trade. I understand that if one does not trade, they do not grow and the…”

“I happen to be a very strong supporter of trade. I understand that if one does not trade, they do not grow and the economy does not grow. In the end, I have always believed the best thing we can do as public officials, moms and dads, is give people the opportunity to work. Trade has been an opportunity for jobs. Trade has created those opportunities. Along the way, there have been some casualties. Along the way, due to policy choices we have made, not because of lack of productivity, not because of inefficiency but because of policy decisions regarding trade, workers have had jobs impacted. A couple of years ago, in 2002, my colleagues did a review and relooked at this whole issue of trade adjustment assistance, something that has been around since the times of John Kennedy, and said we should strengthen this. In doing so, one of the things that was done is it focused simply on the production of goods on manufacturing.”