Joe Cunningham: “it is every individual's right whether to support trade or not to support trade. I personally feel that during GATT…”

“it is every individual's right whether to support trade or not to support trade. I personally feel that during GATT, during NAFTA, during fast track, I think each and every one of us had pluses and minuses in those agreements. Why? I think our worst fear is not for the trade itself, but because under either a Republican or Democrat White House, I think you have to eat pabulum to be a member of the State Department. Because when it comes to the protection of our rights as Americans and our workers as Americans, we back off every time. Let me give my colleagues a classic example. In China over 200 years ago, when we first had ships going into the China ports, there was a sailing ship, they tossed a bucket with a line over and it actually hit a Chinese worker. It killed the young lady. Well, the Chinese stormed the ship, and the Americans repelled boarders, and they would not let the sailor, would not give him up. Well, then they said that if we did not turn over this worker, then they would cut all trade off from the United States. Well, what happened? With that, the United States gave in. They took the sailor and they executed him. So it seems, every time. An example with avocados in NAFTA: We begged the administration not to let Mexico import avocados, for the farmers. But yet the White House insisted that they did, against all of the Members from the States that raised avocados. And right now, California's crops are at risk.”