Charles Rangel: “I'm going to be extremely brief because I expect to be speaking at a later time on the bill. But I could not resist…”

“I'm going to be extremely brief because I expect to be speaking at a later time on the bill. But I could not resist coming to the floor to protect the integrity of the Speaker and the members of the Ways and Means Committee, both Republican and Democrat. There may be, as a matter of conscience, that people feel that they have to oppose this bill or oppose trade or commitments they have made to other people. But to suggest that the leader of this House and those Republicans and Democrats who worked on the Ways and Means Committee and passed this out with a recorded vote without a vote against it were trying to have Americans lose their jobs here is not only unfounded, but it's unfair. And if anyone really just wants to count the numbers, then ask our farmers, ask our machine people, ask our television or electronic people how much they are going to export to Peru because of the removal of tariffs and how much is coming into this country. So you can be against trade. You can be against the agreement. It may not go far enough. It may not be everything you want. But I think it is wrong and unfair to suggest that we are deliberately trying to have people here, hardworking people, many who have suffered because of loss of jobs, and perhaps it has been because of trade or the indifference of people to invest in these families or in these communities, but this bill does not cause Americans to lose jobs.”