On the recordSeptember 22, 2011
Mr. President, this is a caustic program of dubious value. In our hearings, the representatives of the administration couldn't come up with one job that would be lost as a result of these free-trade agreements. There is no evidence that TAA works and, in all honesty, there is no commitment from the President we are going to have the free-trade agreements come up anyway. I have to say that even though we haven't done a trade agreement in years, TAA continues to grow and TAA is on top of unemployment insurance that we are paying anyway, and it isn't justified. All I can say is, literally, this program should not be adopted at this particular point. And if it is adopted, it ought to be adopted based upon reason and so forth.





