[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1340-E1341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           NAFTA: DEATH OF THE AMERICAN WORKING MAN AND WOMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 17, 1998

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of the injustice 
that NAFTA has brought upon the American working man and woman. We have 
lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since NAFTA's implementation in 
1994, and the situation will only get worse unless NAFTA is amended or 
repealed.
  During debate on NAFTA its supporters argued that American jobs 
wouldn't be lost to Canada or Mexico, only that jobs would be added to 
the American workforce. However, NAFTA has allowed American companies 
to send good, high paying American jobs to these countries, where they 
can take advantage of cheap labor. While this is good for the profit of 
these companies, it is destroying the labor workforce of this country.
  A microcosm of NAFTA's ill effects can be seen at a General Motors 
plant in my district. According to the United Auto Workers' Local 719, 
over 500 jobs from the McCook GM Electro Motive Division have been sent 
to a plant in Mexico, and 1,000 jobs have been sent to Canada. Mr. 
Speaker, contrary to the claims of NAFTA's supporters, the American 
workforce has suffered, as witnessed in McCook, Illinois.
  It is high time that Congress and the Administration put people ahead 
of profits. I urge my colleagues to end NAFTA now or witness the death 
of the American working man and woman.

[[Page E1341]]



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