[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 17, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICA EXPORTS JOBS, NOT PRODUCTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, last week the administration announced a 
record $541.8 billion trade deficit for the year 2003. That means 541.8 
billion more dollars' worth of imports coming into our country than our 
exports going out. That is over one-half trillion dollars, the largest 
in the history of this country. We are exporting jobs, we are not 
exporting products.
  In fact, this number is so big, it is bigger than the last record 
deficit set in the year 2002. These are staggering numbers. Let us take 
a step back and look at them again. $541.8 billion or almost half a 
trillion dollars being lost to foreign competitors. This is not just 
pocket change. With each additional billion, America loses another 
20,000 jobs here at home. In fact, since President Bush took office, 
America has lost 2.2 million more jobs, mostly due to our jobs being 
shipped offshore.
  Meanwhile, taxes are going up for the majority of Americans as only a 
wealthy few benefit while the majority of our people are paying higher 
gas taxes, higher property taxes, higher excise taxes, more money for 
their health insurance, and higher tuition if their children are lucky 
enough to go on to college. Consumer confidence is plummeting. 
Disapproval of the President's handling of our economy has reached 59 
percent, a career high, in a recent ABC News Washington Post poll, and 
there is no reason to wonder why.
  The Bush administration tells us we can trade our way to a better, 
stronger economy. But let us look at the record. Since NAFTA passed, 
unfortunately in 1993, a very flawed trade agreement, we have not had a 
trade surplus with Mexico. In fact, the surplus we had has plummeted 
into a giant deficit as more and more of our jobs move south of the 
border. Every single year since NAFTA passage, we have had a growing 
trade deficit with Mexico.
  The United States signed a trade deal with China in 2000. Before the 
trade deal, we already had a $68 billion deficit with China. Guess 
what, since the trade deal, it has doubled to over $124 billion in just 
3 years. Every time we enter into one of these flawed trade agreements, 
our balance of payments goes in the wrong direction. What does it tell 
you, it tells you that the model of trade we are using is seriously 
flawed. Is anyone in this city paying attention?
  When it was only manufacturing jobs being shipped out, some self-
styled trade experts claimed this was the way to modernize our economy. 
I am not quite sure how cutting our core will modernize us, but that 
did not matter when we had all those service sector jobs to depend on. 
But not so fast. Now we hear from the jobs of accountants, medical 
technicians and other formerly untouchables, those are on the line. So 
where does the future of America lie and how do we stem this job loss?
  When we started losing manufacturing jobs in automobiles and other 
core economic sectors, the economists assured us we were in for a so-
called information economy, but now the jobs in the information economy 
are moving to India, so where are the new jobs supposed to come from?
  Well, the Bush administration had several great ideas over the last 
couple months. First, one of the President's top advisers suggested 
that outsourcing our jobs was actually a good thing. The administration 
resorted then to a sleight of hand: When you are losing the game, 
change the rules. So they proposed reclassifying fast food workers as 
manufacturing workers. Nobody gets a new job, just a new title.
  So when a fast food employee is adding pickles to your Big Mac, that 
must mean he or she is ``working on the line.'' I will give them points 
for creativity, but the American people surely cannot be fooled.
  Six months ago President Bush, with the fall elections in sight, 
announced he would be appointing a manufacturing czar. Now, that is not 
a bad idea to help a little bit, even though 6 months later as our 
economy still lags behind the administration's own rosy predictions, we 
still do not have that manufacturing czar in place because his name was 
pulled because that potential employee had one small problem: As he was 
letting American workers go, he was building a factory in China.
  That is right, the man that President Bush wanted to put in charge of 
stemming the flow of jobs overseas was busy sending our jobs overseas.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been coming to the floor asking for fair trade, 
good trade, balanced trade, not just free-for-all trade. Please, let us 
put a human face on trade.

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