[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H919-H920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, 12 years ago I came to this house in 
January 1993 and during that year this Congress debated whether or not 
to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement. The promises made 
during NAFTA in 1993 from its supporters were it would create jobs in 
the U.S., it would raise living standards in Mexico by raising wages, 
it would encourage and enable Mexicans to buy more American products. 
It would increase our balance of trade with Canada and Mexico, 
positively. Those were the promises made by NAFTA.
  We have heard those same promises when we passed the PNTR with China. 
We have heard those same promises on trade agreement after trade 
agreement. But look what has happened to our trade deficit in that 
period. Starting in 1992, the year I first ran for Congress our trade 
deficit was $38 billion. You can see it passes $100 billion in the 
early 1990s. Almost $200 billion in the mid 1990s. President Bush took 
office. Goes up to 400 billion, 450 billion, 500 billion. This year our 
trade deficit was $617 billion. That means that we are buying $617 
billion more in products than we are selling. So, what is the 
President's response? The President's response is the Central American 
Free Trade Agreement. More of the same, followed he hopes by something 
called free trade area of the Americas. CAFTA and FTAA will double the 
population of NAFTA, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada and quadruple the 
number of low income workers.

                              {time}  2000

  They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over 
and over and over again and expecting a different result. We are 
hearing the same promises about CAFTA, that it will raise living 
standards and raise wages in Central America, that it will create jobs 
in the United States, that we will export more and more to Central 
America, that it will reduce our trade deficit. It is the same old 
song.
  It was the same song for NAFTA. It is the same song for NAFTA's 
dysfunctional cousin CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement. 
This President is going to come to Congress and again ask us to pass 
another free trade agreement that hemorrhages American jobs that costs 
us, especially manufacturing jobs.
  My State under President Bush has lost hundreds of thousands of 
manufacturing jobs; this country has lost around 2 million 
manufacturing jobs in the 4 years that George Bush has been President; 
yet he continues to do the same thing, tax cuts for the wealthiest 
people in our country, trade agreements that hemorrhage jobs overseas.
  Mr. Speaker, just look at the facts. Look at what has happened with 
our trade deficit. Again, it was $38 billion the year I ran for 
Congress in 1992. Today it is almost 20 times higher, $617 billion 
trade deficit. We had a trade surplus with Mexico in 1992. Today we 
have a $40 billion trade deficit with Mexico.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, the President looks at these numbers and he says, 
let us do more of the same. Clearly our trade policy is not working. 
Clearly the President is taking the country in the wrong direction on 
trade. Every trade agreement this Congress has passed from President 
Bush has been signed by the President and then passed within Congress 
by about 60 days.
  President Bush signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement on 
May 28. He has yet to try to push it through Congress because he knows 
the American people oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement, 
and he knows the United States Congress opposes this Central American 
Free Trade Agreement.
  Fully 90 percent of Democrats in the House of Representatives plan to 
vote against CAFTA because Democrats understand, and I hope enough of 
my Republican colleagues come along, understand that the Central 
American Free Trade Agreement is bad for our community. It is bad for 
our families. It is bad for our workers. It simply does not

[[Page H920]]

work for our country. It betrays American values of hard work, of being 
rewarded for hard work. It hurts the poor in both countries. It hurts 
working people in both countries. It clearly does not promote the right 
set of moral values for our Nation.
  I ask my colleagues to oppose the Central American Free Trade 
Agreement. It is clear these trade agreements are not working for our 
country.

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