[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3085]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              TRADE AGREEMENTS, THE U.S. ECONOMY, AND JOBS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, President Bush sent to 
Congress this Central American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement that 
would expand NAFTA to six countries in Central America. He plans later 
to send to Congress an agreement called the Free Trade Area of the 
Americas, which would expand NAFTA, except for Cuba, to all the rest of 
Latin America.
  These two agreements will double the size of the North American Free 
Trade Agreement in population, will quadruple the number of low-income 
workers in what is now the North American Free Trade Agreement, so that 
in the Free Trade Area of the Americas it would have that many 
countries, that many people, that many low-income workers.
  Now, you would think that the President of the United States would 
understand, with the economy the way it is, that this is not the right 
response. Ohio, my home State and that of the gentlewoman from Ohio 
(Ms. Kaptur), who is here, also from Toledo, our State has lost 166,000 
manufacturing jobs. One out of six Ohio manufacturing jobs is gone, 
likely will not return, mostly gone overseas. Companies have shut down, 
companies have out-sourced production, companies have moved their 
facilities overseas, south of the border, or elsewhere.
  Ohio literally has lost, in fact the country has lost manufacturing 
jobs every single month since George Bush took office. This country has 
lost some 3 million jobs since President Bush took office. And to every 
bit of bad economic news, every time the unemployment rate goes up, 
every time there is a report on lost jobs, every time there is bad 
economic news, the President has two answers: Tax cuts for the people 
who need them least. Tax cuts for the wealthiest people in our society. 
Half these tax cuts go to the richest 1 percent. Tax cuts for the 
wealthy, hoping they trickle down and provide a few jobs maybe, or give 
some economic prosperity to the country. That is one of his answers. 
The other answer is more trade agreements, like NAFTA, like MFN/PNTR 
for China, like the World Trade Organization, more trade agreements 
that ship jobs overseas; that hemorrhage jobs overseas.
  Now, in this economic report of the President, which came out last 
week, signed by President Bush, on page 4, issued by the President's 
Chief Economic Adviser Gregory Mankiw, also signed by him, he is the 
President's top economic adviser, it says that Mr. Mankiw predicted on 
behalf of the President that we would create 2.6 million jobs this 
year. Even the President's people, after that report came out, said, 
no, no, no, we cannot create that many, and they immediately disavowed 
parts of this report.
  But it is the same old thing. When the President first took office, 
he said, give me the tax breaks and we will create millions of jobs. He 
got the tax cuts, but no jobs were created. Jobs were lost. Then after 
September 11, clearly a tragedy for our country, clearly a blow to our 
economy, but after September 11, the President said, give me more tax 
cuts for the wealthiest, aimed at the most wealthy people, the most 
privileged, the ones who needs it least in society, and we will create 
2.5 million jobs. Again he said that, and again we had job loss in this 
country.
  In this report now it says 2.6 million jobs will be created, but it 
is simply not happening. And again the President's response to every 
problem with our economy, as this economic report of the President 
says, more tax cuts for the wealthy and more trade agreements that 
hemorrhage jobs, that ship jobs overseas.
  Now, as we continue, the President wants to see us do more tax cuts 
this year. Those tax cuts will go again overwhelmingly to the most 
privileged people in society. But Alan Greenspan came to this Congress 
last week and he said because we do not have any money, we are going to 
have to cut Social Security. So not only do the President's tax cuts 
not create jobs in this country, not only do the President's tax cuts, 
who overwhelmingly go to the wealthiest people in society, not only do 
they not simulate the economy and create jobs, but they also mean that 
the President and his economic advisers are making a choice; it is 
either tax cuts or funding Social Security.
  They have made their choice. Alan Greenspan, the President's man at 
the Federal Reserve, has said we cannot afford to fully fund Social 
Security, and later he will talk the same about Medicare because we 
have this huge budget deficit. We have this huge budget deficit because 
of the these tax cuts going overwhelmingly to the wealthiest people. 
And Alan Greenspan and the President are saying we need this year to do 
additional tax cuts, again for the wealthiest people in society.
  You see how this adds up? Tax cuts for the wealthiest people in 
society, trade agreements that hemorrhage jobs and that ship jobs 
overseas. We do not have much in economic recovery and we have to cut 
Social Security. It simply does not add up.
  The President needs to redirect his efforts against these trade 
agreements. Stop the trade agreements. No more tax cuts. Let us 
concentrate on job creation, creating manufacturing jobs and restoring 
Social Security.

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