Russ Feingold: “I oppose this deeply flawed trade agreement. When the Senate passed its version of this legislation a few months ago, I…”

“I oppose this deeply flawed trade agreement. When the Senate passed its version of this legislation a few months ago, I noted that one group had said that this trade agreement is as bad as CAFTA, except where it is worse. The Oman trade agreement is the latest in a series of agreements that have been based on the failed NAFTA-CAFTA model of trade that has shipped thousands of businesses and millions of jobs overseas, devastating communities across our country. The record of that model of trade is crystal clear. During the post-NAFTA era, our trade deficit has exploded from $98 billion in 1994 to $805 billion in 2005. And yet, once again we are debating more of the same. As I noted in June, the Oman Free Trade Agreement is stamped from the NAFTA-CAFTA cookie cutter. It provides no real enforcement for the labor or environmental provisions. And even the most modest efforts to address the deficiencies of the NAFTA-CAFTA model were rejected by the White House. Most notably, an attempt by the Senate Finance Committee to deny trade benefits for products made with slave labor, approved unanimously by the Committee on an 18-to-0 vote, was rejected by the administration, which submitted this agreement without that reasonable protection. You don't have to be a trade expert to know that our trade policy is alarmingly bad.…”