[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 19, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WASHINGTON, WAKE UP
(Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, how many millions of more jobs have to be
outsourced before Washington wakes up? It makes you wonder if the
recently released report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is some sort
of a cruel joke. It claims that U.S. trade agreements have supported
5.4 million jobs. Are we talking about the same country?
Take Ohio: Since 1994, employment just in the manufacturing sector
has declined by one-third. Companies like Silgan Holdings, Delphi,
Georgia Pacific, GM, Dixon Ticonderoga, and Champion Spark Plug all
have moved to Mexico.
Remember when NAFTA promised us the promised land, claiming we would
get millions of new jobs and the standard of living would rise? What we
got was the giant sucking sound, more jobs going out and a cumulative
trade deficit of $1 trillion to this country as a result of NAFTA. The
deficits from NAFTA and NAFTA-like trade agreements have caused our
great manufacturing Nation to wither as our workers and companies are
asked to compete against state-managed capitalism in places like
Mexico, China and Japan.
It is time to wake up, stand up for this country and renegotiate
those agreements that keep moving our jobs offshore.
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