Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I have a short presentation to make regarding trade adjustment assistance, which of course is legislation that was passed through the Senate not too long ago. There was a long debate, an important debate about trade adjustment assistance, which is basically a program we have had in place for decades. That program recognizes that sometimes workers and companies are caught in a position, because of the unfair trade and unfair competition, where they are left not only without a job but sometimes without the prospect of retaining their position in a particular trade or work they have done for many years. So trade adjustment assistance allows us to provide some help to that worker or that company so we can retrain folks for the jobs of the future and so that worker can be retrained and adjust to the changes in the economy. In particular, today I rise in opposition to amendment No. 740, which would eliminate funding for trade adjustment assistance for firms. We provide it for workers but there is also a part of the act that provides help to firms. U.S. trade policy should, I believe, work in the best interests of the American people, especially American workers and American companies. Of course, as a Senator from Pennsylvania, I want that policy to work for our workers and our companies. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Past trade deals have sent jobs overseas. Several administrations have not done enough to crack down on China's unfair trade policies.…”