James Traficant: “this is not a free trade bill. This is not even a trade bill. This is a process bill, an accelerated process on how we…”

“this is not a free trade bill. This is not even a trade bill. This is a process bill, an accelerated process on how we are going to handle the trade agreement. And, once again, Congress is going to turn the powers over to the White House. So I have a couple questions. The first one is, if our policy on trade is so good, why do we not follow the Constitution and have the Senate ratify it with a two-thirds vote? And another question, maybe a street question: If our trade policy is so good, why does China not do it? Why does Japan not do it? I want you to think about that. You know, it really gets to me when we talk about all of this. China is building missiles with American dollars, Japan is building schools with American dollars, Mexico is building factories with American dollars. America is building prisons and passing out training vouchers. Now, I have heard all of this about all these great jobs you are producing. We are shipping jobs overseas and we are not even keeping score. So I just want to say this to the Congress: An America that buys much more than they sell year in and year out is an America that is facing economic and military disaster. If this policy is so good, let two-thirds of the United States Senate ratify it and let it earn its merits through the constitutional process. I would just like to say one other thing. Even a flea market charges table space.”