[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 130 (Thursday, September 19, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10647-H10648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   UNITED STATES MUST GET ITS INTERNATIONAL TRADE FUNCTIONS IN ORDER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I was just on the floor a few days ago and 
talked about a headline I saw where the trade deficit last month had 
gotten worse, and today I woke up to see today's news, and trade and 
jobs and opportunity for my children and for the future of all citizens 
of our country have been one of my top priorities since I got elected 
some 3 years ago.
  Today I saw a headline that should send chills into the spine of 
every American and every Member of Congress. It says ``U.S. trade gap 
grew by 43 percent in July.''
  Now if that does not knock your socks off and you are not concerned 
about this, then you are not awake.
  The opportunities that we are destroying for our children by not 
getting our international trade functions in order are going to really 
ruin the future again for our children. Let me show you our current 
international trade organization.
  This is 19 agencies deal with promoting, financing assistance for 
international trade. This is the current structure. It is a rat's maze. 
Any business person who could get Federal assistance from this rat's 
maze and have Government cooperate with business and industry so we 
could provide good paying jobs, they cannot do it under this structure.
  When I first came to Congress, I introduced a reorganization that 
would put trade finance, trade promotion and trade assistance all 
together in a sound, reasonable package to provide assistance to give 
us an opportunity to increase our jobs.
  Now look at what Mr. Kantor, our Secretary of Commerce, former Trade 
Representative said. His comment was ``The U.S. trade picture reflects 
the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.''
  I cannot believe that he said anything. In fact, I pulled his bio to 
see if he had any business experience, and he does not. Neither does 
the gentleman who currently occupies the White House. They just do not 
understand at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they do not understand in the 
Department of Commerce, and they do not understand in the trade agency 
or the 19 other Federal agencies that spend $3 billion in tax money.
  Then you read about where the big trade deficit is. It is in Japan. 
Now where does 85 percent of all that money we that we spend promoting 
U.S. products, assisting U.S. companies go? It goes for, and would you 
believe this, it does for promoting raisins in Japan, and we already 
control the market there.
  So you see why our children do not have an opportunity for the 
future. This is the disorganization, these are the comments, this is 
the statistics.

                              {time}  1530

  We heard about 10 million new jobs in this country. Where are those 
10 million new jobs? They are part time, they are low paying, they are 
service jobs. They do not tell us that between 1993 and 1995 we lost 
8.4 million good-paying jobs in this country. People were fired. They 
were fired in Binghamton, NY, they were fired in Tennessee, they were 
fired in Florida. They lost their jobs, and a majority of those 8.4 
million people had to take lower paying jobs.
  So the 10 million jobs, people I talked to in my district have two or 
three of

[[Page H10648]]

them to make a living. So they have destroyed jobs. They killed the 
bridge to the future because they killed our bill to reorganize trade.
  I worked with the gentleman form Michigan [Mr. Chrysler], a hero of 
this Congress, and others who tried to bring some business sense to our 
international trade effort, and they have destroyed that bridge. Maybe 
Mr. Canter is smiling today, because he helped destroy a bridge to the 
future, a bridge to good-paying jobs, a bridge to increase the median 
income of the average American. That median income has gone down. That 
is why Americans have less in their pockets today, because taxes went 
up, because this Congress will not address the problem of 
overregulation. One hundred thirty-two thousand Federal employees do 
nothing but regulate, so we take those jobs out of New York, 
Pennsylvania, California, Florida, and we send them across the border.
  Finally, litigation. This administration vetoed litigation reform. 
When you sue everybody, what do you do? You send business and industry 
and good-paying jobs out of this country, so they have destroyed the 
bridge to the future for my children, for your children. They have 
relegated us to $5.15 an hour jobs. In my State, for not working, on 
welfare you get the equivalent of $8.75 for not working, and you get 
health coverage. So why work? You have to be dumb to work at $5.15, 
which they are promoting.
  I urge my colleagues to look at this. Let us build bridges to the 
future, not destroy them.

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