[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NEW TRADE POLICY FOR ALL AMERICANS

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, the proponents of fast track would have 
us believe today's legislative battle is about whether or not the 
United States will trade. This is not about a battle between protection 
as free traders, but rather a struggle over the conditions of that 
trade and who will benefit from that trade. On one side, the President, 
the entire administration, the Republican leadership, and a fleet of 
corporate CEO's who have actually been given office space right 
downstairs in the Capitol in violation of the House rules.
  On our side, 80 percent of the Democrats and a small group of 
Republicans. We think it is time to overhaul our failing trade policy, 
a policy that has brought $160 billion trade deficits, exported jobs, 
driven down wages, weakened our environmental and food safety laws, all 
in the name of free trade. A policy that undermines our values to 
encourage a race to the bottom; enriching a few multinational 
corporations and their CEO's at the expense of the majority of American 
workers and communities.
  ``No'' to the threats, ``no'' to the silent promises, ``no'' to the 
legal campaign bribery, ``no'' to fast track, and ``yes'' to the 
beginnings of a new trade policy that benefits all Americans.

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