[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 22, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1015
                      UNITED STATES TRADE DEFICIT

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the United States of America set a record 
last month or in January, a $16.3 billion merchandise trade deficit, 
not something to be proud of by our Commerce Department who measures 
that. That means we lost 244,000 American manufacturing jobs. The trade 
deficit was up 69 percent in January, the largest imbalance with Mexico 
in a decade, $863 million deficit with Mexico. Yes, NAFTA is working 
just great, thank you very much.
  Japan, a $4.9 billion deficit, and China $2.7 billion, up 34 percent. 
The dollar has plunged to record lows.
  We cannot go on piling deficit on deficit, month after month, year 
after year without bankrupting our economy. We bailed out Mexico when 
they could not pay their international bills. Who will bail us out and 
what conditions will they impose?
  Our trade policy in this country is a failure, it is a disaster and 
the silence in Washington is deafening.

                          ____________________