[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 167 (Thursday, December 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         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, the American people are hurting. We all know 
that. In my State of California, we have a statewide unemployment rate 
of 12.5 percent; and in part of the area I am privileged to represent, 
we have a 15.5 percent unemployment rate. There are steps that we 
should have taken that we still can take that will help deal with the 
joblessness problem about which we are all concerned.
  I believe that the President has been right on target in talking 
about the need to open up new markets around the world as we seek to 
create good manufacturing jobs right here in the United States of 
America. We can do that if we move as expeditiously as possible to pass 
not only the Korea Free Trade Agreement, which the President has talked 
about and he believes is very important, which will be the single-
largest bilateral free trade agreement in the history of the world, but 
also at the same time within this hemisphere, we need to pass the 
Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements. Jobs can be created for 
Caterpillar workers, for John Deere workers, for Whirlpool workers 
right here in this country if we can open up the markets within this 
hemisphere. Union and nonunion jobs will be created. We need to move 
now.

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