[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 54 (Wednesday, April 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H2610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              KOREA FTA AND ITS EFFECTS ON WORKING PEOPLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise 
this morning to address the House and the American people regarding the 
Korea Free Trade Agreement and its effect on working families.
  Let me start by saying that I am committed to trade. Trade can 
benefit our Nation, our businesses, and our working families. In fact, 
I am a member of President Obama's Export Council. Our goal is to 
double American exports in 5 years, not to export American jobs.
  But the problem with our current trade policy, the one that started 
with NAFTA and has gone downhill from there, is that its benefits are 
skewed. The benefits are concentrated in a few powerful multinational 
corporations, and it is hardworking middle class families who pay the 
price.
  The Korea FTA doesn't fall far from the NAFTA tree. A few stock 
prices and CEO bonuses may go up, but the Korea FTA will kill jobs, 
push down American wages, and drive small American companies who face 
unfair competition out of business.
  Perhaps the biggest problem with the Korea FTA is that it opens the 
door for more illegal trade from China. Members on both sides of the 
aisle and both sides of the FTA debate have concerns about trading with 
China. We all know that China manipulates its currency, doesn't protect 
intellectual property, and engages in illegal transshipment to escape 
U.S. tariffs. You can go on the Internet right now and find Web sites 
bragging that they can hide the source of Chinese goods and thereby 
avoid paying duties owed to the U.S.
  The illegal transshipment, mislabeling, and duty evasion rob the 
American people of money that we are owed. They also drive U.S. 
businesses out of business. U.S. businesses often go to great length 
and expense to prove that Chinese goods are being dumped and are 
receiving illegal subsidies. When the duties the U.S. imposes aren't 
paid, hardworking Americans lose their jobs when their workplaces shut 
their doors forever. From New York to South Carolina to Lynwood, 
California, in my own district, American businesses have turned off the 
lights and sent workers home due to unfair Chinese competition.
  And China doesn't even have to break the rules to reap the benefits 
of the Korea FTA. This agreement, which was negotiated by President 
Bush, only requires that 35 percent of a Korean car be made in Korea to 
be eligible for tariff benefits. That means that 65 percent of the car 
can be made in China by child labor, prison labor, and workers who lack 
the right to form free and independent unions.
  America has lost about 7.5 million jobs since the recession began. We 
cannot afford another job-killing trade agreement that ignores 
America's middle class families.

                              {time}  1030

  We have learned some very hard lessons after more than 15 years of 
NAFTA-style free trade agreements. We've heard many promises, just like 
the promises we're hearing about the Korea FTA. But the fact is that 
there are failures.
  NAFTA was supposed to solve illegal immigration by developing a 
robust economy in Mexico that would allow hardworking people to provide 
for their families by staying home. That didn't work. CAFTA was 
supposed to include bold new safety and wage protections for workers, 
but these protections are disappointingly weak, allowing countries to 
downgrade their own labor laws. And in the Oman FTA, the administration 
actually negotiated a deal with a country that, as our own State 
Department reported, was experiencing a forced labor problem. Forced 
labor. How are our American families supposed to care for their 
families and send their kids to college when they are competing with 
forced labor?
  Free trade was supposed to increase economic opportunity for 
everybody, for big businesses as well as small, and for hardworking 
families at home and abroad. This has not happened. Too many 
communities have been left to rot because corporations shut down U.S. 
plants to chase increasingly cheap labor and weak environmental 
standards abroad.
  After 15 years of living with NAFTA and its clones, real wages for 
American families are down. Our trade deficit is in the tens of 
billions of dollars. Our manufacturing base is falling apart. The 
American worker is now more productive than before, but that increased 
productivity has not led to higher wages. The truth is the NAFTA free 
trade models favor the wealthiest few and the corporate fat cats at the 
expense of small businesses, workers, families, and our communities.
  In the coming weeks and months we'll be asked to consider at least 
two of the Bush administration's trade deals with Korea and Colombia. 
Despite the long record of failed FTAs, we are going to hear that there 
is a consensus of support for these FTAs. We'll hear that anyone who 
knows anything about trade supports these agreements. Don't believe it, 
because it's not true. Advocates for America's families, both inside 
and outside of Congress, have grave concerns. We want a new path that 
creates real opportunities for workers and the businesses that employ 
them. We want trade agreements that don't sell our environment short, 
close doors for our children, or substitute the judgment of 
international trade lawyers for our courts.
  Some of my colleagues say that the Korea FTA isn't that bad. That we 
can live with it.
  That argument misses the point. Why are we settling for ``not that 
bad''? We should be fighting for the best trade agreements possible.
  NAFTA-style FTAs simply aren't good enough. We should focus on 
creating a trade policy that creates and saves well-paying jobs here in 
America.
  Our trade policy should help small businesses hire more employees, 
not shut their doors.
  It should help our trading partners to grow and flourish, not race to 
the bottom in labor and environmental standards.
  Our trade policy should not reward bad actors like China, but reward 
playing by the rules.
  If we stand united for working Americans, we can deliver a trade 
policy that accomplishes these goals.
  Minor adjustments to NAFTA-style deals aren't good enough.
  I urge my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to stop settling 
for ``not that bad'' and embark on a trade path that promotes 
development and prosperity for all.

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