[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 1, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H7763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     PASS THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, we all know the sad news of the expiration 
of unemployment benefits. And we feel very strongly about ensuring that 
the American people who are struggling are able to have their needs 
met. We also feel strongly that it must be paid for. We also feel very 
strongly, Mr. Speaker, that the focus should be on job creation and 
economic growth.
  We have three pending trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and 
South Korea, which not only would have far-reaching economic impacts on 
the United States of America, but at the same time it would have a 
very, very important geopolitical impact. And it seems to me that as we 
look at creating good manufacturing jobs for union and nonunion workers 
in the United States, at companies like Caterpillar, John Deere, 
Whirlpool, other union companies, that the single best thing to do for 
those workers and potential union and nonunion workers is to open up 
markets where there are 40 million consumers in Colombia.
  The single largest bilateral free trade agreement in the history of 
the world would be the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement. And so, Mr. 
Speaker, I would like to join, and I know there is bipartisan support 
for this, in encouraging the administration to send up those agreements 
so that we can focus on what it is the American people want us to do, 
and that is create good manufacturing jobs right here in the United 
States.

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