Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise in support of this amendment, which I filed yesterday afternoon, which deals with what I believe is a very important topic; that is, the high cost of delay when it comes to the pending free-trade agreements. I raised this issue yesterday, and I wish to reemphasize my comments in light of the fact that we will be voting on this amendment this afternoon. Most of the debate the last few days has been about the merits of trade adjustment assistance. But there is another aspect of trade adjustment assistance renewal we should consider. It is the fact that there has been a real cost to America's economy and to the American businesses as a result of the President's strategy to link passage of the three trade agreements to a renewal of an expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. This is very unfortunate, especially considering that even the White House acknowledges that passing the trade agreements is one of the best things we could do in the short term to create jobs. According to the Business Roundtable, the passage of the trade agreements will support 250,000 American jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that as many as 380,000 U.S. jobs could be in jeopardy if we do not pass the free-trade agreements. One would think passage of these trade agreements, which were signed in 2006 and 2007, would have been an early priority for the Obama administration.…”