Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, as NAFTA renegotiation approaches, I rise to call attention to the mammoth U.S. trade deficit with our NAFTA nation partners. Our current deficit with NAFTA nations is $74 billion. This red on the chart translates into tens of thousands of lost U.S. jobs, all while wages are depressed for North America's struggling workers. Since NAFTA's passage, there hasn't been a single year of trade balance for this country. That translates into lost jobs. Thus far, President Trump has failed to correct these trade deficits. In fact, the trade deficit this year has ballooned to more than $22 billion from the same period in 2016. Balanced trade accounts in 5 years should be first on our agenda. My bill, the Balancing Trade Act, H.R. 2766, requires the administration to address trade deficits of more than $10 billion with any nation. As negotiations near, let's focus on key principles such as vigorously enforcing a first world rule of law; including labor provisions that allow workers across this continent to improve their standard of living and outlaw labor trafficking; enact environmental standards for human health and forge an agricultural labor agreement that helps displaced farmers; reform the unaccountable tribunals called Investor-State Dispute Settlements so that they work for people, not just big corporations; address currency manipulation; and, finally, stamp out the illegal drug trade that is plaguing this continent.…”