Political Quotes

“I would hope that government could learn from its mistakes, and, if there ever was a mistake, it was America's entry into the North America Free Trade Agreement. The victims of that colossal disaster reside in all of our Congressional districts. They are the unemployed auto workers, the steelworkers, the truckers and the textile workers. They are families who are struggling just to get by. They remember better times. They remember life before America entered the ``race to the bottom,'' before their jobs moved overseas. Let us consider where NAFTA has brought us. The U.S. trade deficit in 2002 was $500 billion, the highest deficit ever recorded, and the combined trade deficit with Canada and Mexico is now more than ten times what it was before NAFTA went into effect. But, sadly, Madam Speaker, it seems that some either did not learn, or just simply do not care, because this Congress is now being presented with more free trade agreements, this time with Chile and Singapore, and they are just more of the same; more jobs lost, more hard times for Americans. I will be voting against both the Chile and the Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Acts, because they mean nothing but hardship for American workers.”