[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H483-H484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROMISE NO. 1: NAFTA WOULD CREATE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS FOR 
                            AMERICAN WORKERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, 5 years ago last month the North 
American Free Trade Agreement, a trade agreement signed by the 
countries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, went into effect.
  The proponents of NAFTA during the debate earlier that fall, in the 
fall of 1993, made five central promises: They promised that NAFTA 
would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs for American workers; 
they promised that NAFTA would actually improve environmental 
conditions along the U.S.-Mexican border; they promised that imported 
foods under NAFTA would benefit American consumers; they promised that 
NAFTA would not only not hamper our effort, but help our effort to 
detect and keep out illegal drugs from across the border; and they 
promised that NAFTA would not reduce the safety of our highways.
  Mr. Speaker, on all five counts NAFTA has been an abysmal failure. 
First of all, on NAFTA's promise to create hundreds of thousands of 
jobs since NAFTA became effective, became law in 1994, January of 1994, 
what was a $1.7 billion U.S. trade surplus with Mexico fell into a 
$14.7 billion trade deficit. At the same time, our trade deficit with 
Canada increased to $18 billion, which, according to economists' 
estimates, a $1 billion trade surplus or deficit translates into about 
20,000 jobs.
  So the $14 billion trade deficit we now have with Mexico, which was a 
trade surplus prior to the North American Free Trade Agreement going 
into effect, has meant a loss of at least 300,000 generally good-paying 
industrial jobs for America's workers. So we have seen, instead of job 
increases as promised under NAFTA, we have seen hundreds of thousands 
of job losses.
  Secondly, they promised that NAFTA would improve environmental 
conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border. Since NAFTA's implementation, 
the maquiladora zone, the region along the Mexican-U.S. border on the 
Mexican side, has attracted hundreds and hundreds of new businesses, 
mostly investments by American companies, often by Asian companies and 
other foreigners going into Mexico. We have seen no progress. In fact, 
we have seen significantly worse environmental conditions along the 
American-Mexican border.
  Hazardous waste transports and dumping are increasing under NAFTA. We 
have seen an increase in hazardous waste imports into the United States 
from Mexico of 50 percent since 1996 alone.
  We have also seen corporations, for the first time in what I can find 
in world trade history, we have actually seen corporations in one 
country sue a government of another country. American corporations have 
sued Canada, the Canadian government, to get Canada, successfully, 
unfortunately, to repeal one of its major clean air environmental laws.
  We have seen case after case of corporations in one country suing 
governments in other countries to weaken food safety, environmental 
laws, and other laws that protect consumers and protect workers and 
protect all of us.
  On the third promise, that imported foods under NAFTA would benefit 
American consumers, inspections along the border which used to be 
pretty regular and pretty frequent have now dropped to 2 percent. We 
inspect less than 2 percent of all foods coming into the United States 
from Mexico.

[[Page H484]]

  We have seen problems of Michigan schoolchildren coming down with 
hepatitis A as a result of importing of strawberries from Mexico. We 
have seen a variety of problems with pesticides. Pesticides that are 
banned for use in this country still are manufactured here, sold to 
Central American and Latin American countries, including Mexico. Then 
they are applied on crops and sold back into the United States, 
pesticides that we have made illegal because we know they are unhealthy 
for consumers.
  Promise number four was that NAFTA would help us deal with the 
illegal drug problem. One former drug enforcement official called NAFTA 
a deal made in narco heaven. In fact, that Customs report where he said 
that has not been released to the American public. In spite of repeated 
attempts by me and others to get that report public, they will not 
release it, in large part because it contains so much bad news about 
drugs coming across the Mexican-U.S. border. The DEA estimates that the 
drug trade is bringing in, coming across the border, what amounts to 
over $10 billion a year.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, promise five, that NAFTA would not reduce the 
safety of our highways, again has been an abysmal failure. Fewer than 1 
percent of the 3.3 million Mexican trucks coming into the United States 
each year are inspected. For 5,000 trucks per day across the Texas-
Mexican border, only two to five inspectors are on duty during 
weekdays, fewer on weekends. Governor Bush has not done his job, the 
U.S. Government has not done its job. Then in the year 2000 those 
Mexican trucks will be allowed to come into all 48 States.
  Mr. Speaker, NAFTA has been a failure. We should consider repealing 
or markedly revising that agreement.

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