[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5975-S5976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              TRADE POLICY

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I was very interested to hear the 
comments by Senator Byrd and Senator Hollings today on the issue of 
trade. I think the three of us, with perhaps one or two others, are the 
only Members of the Senate who come and speak about the issue of trade. 
There is almost a conspiracy of silence in this Senate, in the entire 
Congress, and in this town, especially, on the issue of trade.


                           U.S. TRADE POLICY

  We have the largest trade deficit in human history in this country 
now. We have a lot of hand wringing about the fiscal policy deficits, 
and they are dangerous and troublesome. We must deal with them. But no 
one speaks about the trade deficit and what causes it and what it means 
for our country. I hope one day soon that will change, because today's 
trade deficits will be repaid in the future with a lower standard of 
living in this country. We must get rid of these terrible, terrible 
trade deficits that are going to ruin this country's future.
  Beginning on Friday this week, I am going to make about four 
presentations on the floor of the Senate over the period of the next 
couple of weeks, talking about the last 50 years. I want to start with 
post-Second World War 
[[Page S5976]]  trade strategy, which was really foreign policy, in 
which we were linked to other countries try to strengthen others around 
the world who had been suffering from the ravages of war. During that 
period of time, there was general expansion in world trade and general 
expansion of prosperity. Our allies prospered and so did we. We 
prospered in output. We saw higher wages. Our country generally, in the 
first 25 years, did well.
  You look at the last 25 years and you will see, even as others began 
to compete with us very aggressively, we clung to the same strategy. 
And what have we seen for it? We have seen a lower standard of living 
in this country generally, lower wages, and we have seen American jobs 
move overseas. That has been the result of this strategy. It is a 
strategy that hurts this country, and it is a strategy that must be 
changed.
  We must get to a point where, if you close your eyes and simply 
listen, you can hear a difference between what people are saying on 
trade policy. You cannot anymore. There is no difference between what 
the Republicans say and what the Democrats say on trade. It sounds all 
the same to me.
  Oh, Senator Hollings sounds different to me because he is talking a 
different kind of strategy--plus he comes from a different part of the 
country. And Senator Byrd sounds different because he is talking about 
trade in a completely different way. But it is very unusual, and we 
need to create a national debate on this subject. We need to do it 
soon. The merchandise trade deficit last year was $166 billion, the 
highest in history. Jobs left our country. Wages in this country were 
down.
  Our current strategy says to American workers they can now compete 
with 2 or 3 billion others in the world, some of whom are willing to 
work for 12 cents an hour at the age of 12, for 12 hours a day. That 
ought not be the competition for the American worker. No one should 
produce a product that enters our marketplace under those conditions. 
And we must, posthaste, create a national debate about trade strategy, 
looking out for the best interests of this country.
  I do not want a trade war. That does not serve anybody's interests. 
But I do want our country to stand up for its own economic interests 
for a change. Can we not, for a change, just for once, have a trade 
negotiation that we win, or at least come out even on? We lose every 
time we pull up to the table. We lost on NAFTA; we lost on Canada; we 
lost on GATT. We can go all the way back. It is time for this country 
to stand up for its economic interests.

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