Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Maine for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Korea free trade agreement. I represent a manufacturing district, and we need trade policies that put American workers first. I've seen firsthand the negative effects that trade agreements have had on our manufacturing sector. And this one is estimated to displace 159,000 jobs and increase our trade deficit with Korea by $16.7 billion. Every trade dollar we lose as a result of an international marketplace rigged against us is one more blow to our effort to climb out of debt and get our economy moving again. We can prevent the outsourcing and offshoring of American jobs and the ballooning of our trade deficit simply by basing trade agreements on a level playing field and rebuilding our manufacturing strength. In order to accomplish this, we must oppose agreements like this one that are founded on policies that have a record of failure. With an unemployment rate currently hovering around 9 percent and an 11 million job shortfall, we simply cannot afford another trade agreement that increases the deficit and drives more Americans out of work. Please join me in opposing the Korea free trade agreement, as all our workers and businesses deserve to know that we are standing up for them in the global marketplace. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further consideration of H.R. 3080 is postponed. ____________________”