[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 19, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H6708-H6709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MORE TROUBLE FOR AMERICA'S WORKING FAMILIES

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time 
of the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from Ohio 
is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, the latest trade report out of Washington 
spells more trouble for working families; most immediately for Ohio, 
Michigan and Indiana, and our Nation's heartland, but, in fact, for our 
entire Nation.
  The U.S. Department of Commerce reported this week that America's 
trade deficit in the second quarter of this year hit its second highest 
level in history, rising 2.4 percent to $218.4 billion more imports 
into our Nation than exports out. That is just in one quarter.
  We are well on our way to another record trade deficit likely to 
exceed $800 billion. At this rate, the United States might well post 
its first trillion-dollar trade deficit this year.
  That level of trade deficit throttles real growth in our country and 
continues the unfortunate path of selling out America. We are not 
winning the global trade war, we are losing it badly. President Bush's 
trade policy is no more successful than his foreign policy. Since 
President Bush took office, we have lost 3 million more good jobs. 
America's trade deficit in motor vehicles alone has climbed by 
approximately 20 percent, and the recent announcement by Ford Motor 
Company of production cutbacks and plant closings will only exacerbate 
the situation.
  Still, the administration clings to the same failed policies. The 
President will not even meet with the executives of the Big Three. I 
never thought I would see a day that the President of the United States 
refused to meet with the leaders of America's automakers. No industrial 
nation can afford to cash out its domestic automotive industry. One of 
five jobs here in our country are directly tied to it. But it is true. 
Apparently that is what this President thinks of the industry that has 
been the backbone of our economy.
  Back in 1975, New York City was in dire fiscal straits, and Gerald 
Ford refused to help. The New York Daily News ran a famous headline: 
``Ford to City: Drop Dead.'' Maybe it is just a matter of time before 
we see a similar headline about George W. Bush and his lack of concern 
about the U.S. automotive industry.
  The same Commerce Department report showed other statistics which 
showed the deterioration in our Nation's financial picture. Foreign-
owned assets in the United States increased by $366 billion more during 
the second quarter. U.S. liabilities to foreigners reported to U.S. 
banks increased by $84.2 billion more in the second quarter following 
an increase of $148.9 billion in the first quarter.
  Who owns the assets of our Nation? Increasingly, foreign interests 
own our assets, and we owe them money. No wonder people think our 
country is headed in the wrong direction. It is.
  Increasingly, Americans don't own America. Transactions in U.S. 
Treasury securities shifted to net foreign purchases of $10.1 billion 
in the second quarter, almost double the rate in the first quarter. I 
don't like the fact that foreign interests are buying our country. 
Indeed, I detest what is happening as un-American and unpatriotic. But 
foreign official assets in the United States increased $74.9 billion in 
the second quarter following an increase of $75.7 billion in the first 
quarter. It came as no surprise as a result that our dollar depreciated 
an additional 3 percent.
  What the trade deficit means in real-life terms is that money, 
usually U.S. currency, is leaving American hands and ending up in the 
hands of foreign competitors, from the United States to Saudi Arabia 
and other major oil producers; from the United States to China, now the 
second largest holder of

[[Page H6709]]

U.S. dollar assets; from the United States to Japan, Korea and other 
major automobile and truck makers who keep their markets closed. So we 
are left with padlocked factories, a shrinking middle class, 
diminishing tax bases and all the problems that accompany a shortage of 
good jobs.
  What a shame. What a shame that Washington is so out of touch with 
the real America. People are rapidly losing hope and trust. They 
believe their government has been captured by special interests and no 
longer cares about them, and they are right.
  When they see these statistics about what is happening to our 
country, it is no wonder people are beginning to despair. So our people 
vote less, they become more cynical, and they conclude their government 
no longer stands up for them or indeed belongs to them. That, my 
friends, is a recipe for a rising political radicalism across our 
Nation. I cannot predict when it will happen, but it will happen.

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