Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, here in Congress, we stand together in a commitment toward the spread of democratic ideals and the improvement of human rights. But as we have helped encourage the growth of democracy, many American corporations promote practices that work against all that Congress fosters throughout the world. During the weeks approaching the vote for permanent NTR for the People's Republic of China, corporate CEOs flocked to the Hill to lobby for increased trade with China. They talked about access to 1.2 billion consumers in China. What they did not say was that their real interest is in 1.2 billion Chinese workers, workers whom they pay wages on the level of slave labor. These CEOs will tell us that increasing trade with China will allow human rights to improve. They will tell us that democracy will flourish with increased free trade. But as the CEOs speak, their companies systematically violate the most fundamental of human and worker rights. Companies such as Huffy and Nike and WalMart are contracting Chinese sweatshops to export to the United States, often with the assistance of repressive and corporate Chinese local government authorities. Mr. Speaker, 1,800 Huffy bicycle workers in the U.S. lost their jobs as Huffy in Ohio shut down its last three remaining plants in the U.S.”