[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VOTE NO ON THE UPCOMING FAST TRACK BILL
(Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, we have heard numerous stories of
dozens of deals between President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich to ram
fast-track legislation through this Congress. The killer deal was the
very first deal the White House cut.
Instead of working with Democrats on positive legislation that looked
to the future, the White House cozied up to the gentleman from Georgia
[Mr. Gingrich] and the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Archer] on a deal that
betrays our values and our historic commitment to working American
families and the environment.
The Archer-Gingrich bill not surprisingly would make the Republican
hostility to labor and environment the U.S. agenda in international
trade negotiations, a global race to the bottom. The Archer-Gingrich
bill is a fast-track to the past, not to the future.
The vast majority of Democrats, 80 percent of them, oppose the
Archer-Gingrich bill because we want sensible agreements that
incorporate our values as Democrats, values such as clean air and clean
water, values such as safe food, values such as worker rights and human
rights.
As Democrats, we can do better. Vote no on the Gingrich-Archer fast-
track bill.
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