[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1468]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1010
                         THE NAFTA ANNIVERSARY

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, incredible as it may seem, certain promoters 
still claim NAFTA to be a success.
  Eighteen thousand United States workers have already lost their jobs 
to Mexico with thousands more surely to be lost as more plants relocate 
to that cheap wage environment.
  Our trade advantage with Mexico wiped out last year, and red ink is 
ahead of us as far as we can see.
  A 50-percent peso devaluation in Mexico will dry up our consumer 
market for exports down there, and the $47 billion taxpayer backed 
bailout of Mexico and its Wall Street friends.
  Tuesday's New York Times tells the story of Tracy Bartrom of Indiana. 
A former maintenance worker for Magnatek in Huntington, IN, she 
recalled a meeting she had in Mexico as she trained her replacement 
worker. Through a translator, she asked how much he was paid. He told 
her $1 an hour. And for him, the job is certainly not desirable as 
strong fumes cause nausea and vomiting.
  The true story of NAFTA needs to be told, but it will never get the 
coverage that the O.J. Simpson trial gets on U.S. television.


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