David Obey: “I have supported this bill for years, but I do not believe that I can any longer do so. Since 1989 we have really had…”

“I have supported this bill for years, but I do not believe that I can any longer do so. Since 1989 we have really had euphoria in this country. The Iron Curtain collapsed, democracy was restored in a good many countries in central Europe, South Africa is a far different country than it used to be, we have many more democracies in Latin and Central America than we had a decade ago, and I think we have almost come to expect that to be the norm. Unfortunately the real normalcy seems to be raising its ugly head in many parts of the globe, and I do not believe that this bill meets the task of dealing with those problems. It is first of all, Mr. Chairman, terribly inadequate in terms of the way it deals with our international economic situation. We have a crisis in terms of what is happening in the Asian economy, and that sooner or later is going to collapse in on us, ruin our ability to export, and take away American jobs.”