Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, where I come from, trade is a four-letter word, J-O-B-S. Unfortunately, this administration, this Trade Representative, the leadership in this Congress just simply do not spell very well. We all know what has happened. We lost 3.1 million jobs in the 2 rac{1}{2} ext{ years the Bush administration has been in the White House. We have lost 2.1 million manufacturing jobs. We have lost them because of an economic program of tax cuts for the wealthy, the most privileged. We have lost them because of the cuts in veterans, in education, in health benefits. And we lost them because of trade agreements, one trade agreement after the other. Last Sunday, I spoke at a rally for Goodyear. There are 14 Goodyear plants left in the United States. Worker after worker came up to me and said, What are you doing about our jobs that move overseas? They understand that NAFTA has been a failure from a billion-dollar- plus trade surplus 10 years ago, pre-NAFTA, to a $25 billion deficit with Canada and Mexico post-NAFTA. They understand that our China trade policy has been a failure. Only $100 million, with an ``M,'' trade deficit a dozen years ago; $100 billion, with a ``B,'' trade deficit today where thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe a million U.S. jobs have gone to China. Two years ago Congress got it right. This body passed without dissent a Jordan trade agreement.”