[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CAFTA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Westmoreland). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, last year President Bush signed the 
Central American Free Trade Agreement, a one-sided plan to benefit 
multinational corporations at the expense of United States and Central 
American farmers, small businesses and workers. Every trade agreement 
negotiated by this administration has been ratified by Congress within 
65 days, within about 2 months of the President's signing it. But 
CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, has languished in 
Congress for 1 year without a vote because this wrong-headed trade 
agreement offends both Republicans and Democrats.
  Just look at what has happened with our trade policy in the last 
dozen years. In 1992, the year I was first elected to Congress, we had 
in this country a trade deficit of $38 billion. That means that we 
imported $38 billion of goods more than we exported. $38 billion in 
1992. Then NAFTA passed, the North American Free Trade Agreement, then 
permanent normal trade relations with China, then a whole 'nother 
series of trade agreements.
  Last year, our trade deficit was $618 billion, from $38 billion to 
$618 billion in 12 short years.
  Our trade policy clearly is bankrupt, clearly is not working for 
American workers, clearly is not working for our families, for our 
school systems, for our communities, and clearly is not working in the 
developing world for workers in those countries. It is the same old 
story.
  Now the President is asking us to pass the Central American Free 
Trade Agreement. With each trade agreement that the President asks us 
to pass, the President and his allies promise stronger manufacturing in 
the United States, more jobs for Americans, more prosperity for the 
U.S. economy and for communities in this country and better wages for 
workers in developing countries. Yet with every single trade agreement, 
their promises fall by the wayside in favor of big business interests 
that send U.S. jobs overseas, that lock in low wages in the developing 
world and that exploit that cheap labor abroad.
  Madness, Mr. Speaker, is repeating the same action over and over and 
over and expecting a different result. Again, look at this trade 
deficit. Look what has happened after 12 years of failed trade 
policies. From a $38 billion trade deficit to $618 billion. President 
Bush, Sr., said that for every $1 billion of trade deficits, that 
translates into 12,000 jobs. If you have a surplus of $1 billion, you 
have 12,000 extra jobs. If you have a deficit of $1 billion, you lose 
12,000 jobs. We have a deficit of $618 billion. Do the math.
  Mr. Speaker, what has happened with this trade deficit shows in this 
map. These red States are States which have lost, in just a 5-year 
period, 6-year period, more than 20 percent of their manufacturing. 
Michigan, 210,000 jobs. Illinois, 224,000 jobs lost. My State, the 
State of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan), 216,000 jobs. The State of 
the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson), 50,000 jobs. The State of 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) and the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee), 353,000 jobs. The State of the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis), 224,000. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost with 
this trade policy, with this kind of export trade policy, import trade 
policy, where trade deficits continue to grow and grow and grow.
  That is why, Mr. Speaker, in the face of this growing bipartisan 
opposition, the administration, the Republican leadership has tried 
every trick in the book to pass CAFTA. They cannot argue our trade 
policy is working when you see this kind of manufacturing job loss.
  So what they do, they first try to link CAFTA with helping democracy 
in the developing world and they say, CAFTA will help us fight the war 
on terror. Ten years of NAFTA, 10 years of CAFTA's dysfunctional cousin 
NAFTA, have done nothing to improve border security with Mexico, so 
that argument does not sell.
  Then, 2 weeks ago, the United States Chamber of Commerce flew on a 
junket the six presidents from the CAFTA countries around our country, 
hoping they would sell CAFTA to the American people and to the Congress 
and to the American media. They flew them to Albuquerque and Los 
Angeles. They flew them to Cincinnati, Ohio, in my State and New York 
and Miami. Again, they failed.
  At the end of this trip, one of the presidents, the Costa Rican 
president said, Hey, my country is not ratifying CAFTA unless an 
independent commission would show that it would not hurt working 
families and the poor in my country of Costa Rica. So that is not 
working.
  Calling out that we have got to do something about the war on terror 
and that is why we are doing this agreement, that did not work. 
Bringing the Central American presidents to the United States, that did 
not work.
  So what is next? The Republican leadership is opening the bank. They 
are making deals. To my friends on that side of the aisle, they are 
promising bridges, they are promising highways, they are promising some 
of the sleaziest deals this Congress has ever seen. They are basically 
buying votes in this Congress in order to pass the Central American 
Free Trade Agreement. We saw it in 2002 with fast track authority when 
the President opened the bank and bought votes then. We are not going 
to stand for it this time.
  Mr. Speaker, what really makes sense instead is a trade policy that 
lifts workers up in rich and poor countries alike while it is 
respecting human rights. The United States with its unrivaled 
purchasing power and its enormous economic clout is in a unique 
position to help empower poor workers in developing countries while 
promoting prosperity at home.
  Vote ``no'' on CAFTA. Renegotiate a better agreement.

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