[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 28, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SAY NO TO EXPLOITING CHEAP LABOR AND THE ENVIRONMENT

  (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, I noticed yesterday that the President gave 
a speech and he said that those who oppose his fast track authority 
have an ignorance of the new world international economy.
  I saw the face of the new world economy last weekend, and I would 
like the President to hear about it. He should go to Juarez, Mexico: a 
77-percent increase in maquiladora jobs since fast track passed.
  Two-earner families living in hovels without water, heat, or even 
walls. They are made of pallets and packing crates. Working 45 hours a 
week for U.S. corporations, jobs that were here before NAFTA, for $40 a 
week. No environmental controls, no labor protections, no right to 
organize. That is the face of the new world economy, Mr. President.
  There is one place we are running a surplus today, that is in Latin 
and South America. And now the President wants fast track authority to 
go down there and see if he can screw that up too, and take more of our 
jobs south of the border so our corporations can exploit cheap labor 
and the environment. No.

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