[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 8 (Thursday, January 20, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      U.S. CHINA TRADE AGREEMENTS

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 20, 2011

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, as President Obama meets with visiting 
Chinese President Hu Jintao, in the past decade, we've lost at least 2 
million American industrial jobs to China. In 2010 alone, the trade 
deficit between the U.S. and China was $252 billion dollars.
  The fact is that Chinese workers are paid much lower wages than U.S. 
workers, which means their products are much cheaper to produce than if 
companies operating in China had to pay actual fair labor costs. 
Chinese workers endure a much lower standard of living than Americans 
do. They also lack any right to organize or petition their employers or 
government for better working conditions. They do not enjoy the same 
protections of their environment that masses of Americans have fought 
so hard for. We take these basic protections for granted because they 
are enshrined in our law.
  We cannot seek to compete with the Chinese on their level by 
weakening environmental and worker protections in the hope that this 
will correct the economic imbalances between our two nations. Instead 
we must re-write the U.S.-China trade agreements to include these 
essential worker and environmental protections.

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