On the recordJune 11, 2015
I want to thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her tremendous leadership on so many issues. I rise today in strong opposition to this rule. Our country has already lost too many good-paying American jobs because of past trade deals. We should be clear about what this rule would do. This rule is really a vote to extended Medicare sequestration and provides for no amendments in the fast track bill, Trade Adjustment Assistance, and the customs bill. We have seen what happens when bad trade deals are passed without congressional oversight: American jobs shift overseas--many come from communities of color; dangerous food makes its way to our meals; human rights are violated; labor standards are ignored; and the effects of climate change get worse. The American people do deserve better. The American people deserve a trade policy that creates American jobs and an open process for passing trade deals that gives them a strong voice. Passing this rule and passing fast track does neither. This is a bad deal for American workers. It is bad for American jobs. It needs to go back to the drawing board, a drawing board that is public and that gives the American people a voice in trade policy, not just big corporations and hedge fund managers. Between 2001 and 2011, the growing trade deficit with China cost more than 2.7 million jobs. Nearly 1 million of these jobs, mind you, came from communities of color.…
