Sherrod Brown: “last November, voters in my State of Ohio spoke out for change. Their call echoed across this country, as middle- class…”

“last November, voters in my State of Ohio spoke out for change. Their call echoed across this country, as middle- class, working, and low-income families claimed ownership of their Government. For too long, our Government betrayed their values. The drug companies wrote the Medicare law, the oil companies dictated energy policy, and large multinational corporations pushed job-killing trade agreements through the House and the Senate. In my home State of Ohio, trade in particular was the focus for change in last year's election. Years of job-killing trade agreements are taking their toll on workers and small businesses alike. Two years ago, the largest ever bipartisan fair trade coalition was formed to oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement--the dysfunctional cousin of the fundamentally flawed North American Free Trade Agreement. Forced through the House in the middle of the night by one vote, CAFTA did not pass on its merits. So flawed is CAFTA that to this day, nearly 2 years later, it has still not been fully implemented. The question is not if we trade but how we trade and who benefits from trade. Unfettered free trade has afforded multinational corporations and morally bankrupt countries windfall profits on the backs of often slave, sweatshop, or even child labor.”