Sherrod Brown: “We just returned from 10 days in our district, and we found the opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement…”

“We just returned from 10 days in our district, and we found the opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement is even greater than before we left. People at home in our districts recognize our trade policy is not working. Just look at this chart. The first year I ran for Congress, our trade deficit was $38 billion. Today after NAFTA and PNTR and a series of trade agreements, our trade deficit is $618 billion. These trade agreements cost jobs. They hurt our families. They hurt our communities. They hurt our schools. Madam Speaker, we should renegotiate the Central American Free Trade Agreement; defeat this bill when it comes to Congress; renegotiate a new Central American Free Trade Agreement, one that lifts up workers in all seven countries. ____________________”