[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15704-15705]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 CAFTA

  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, the Central American Free Trade 
Agreement, according to Republican leadership, will come to a vote 
sometime this month. The Central American Free Trade Agreement was 
signed 13 months ago by President Bush. Every other trade agreement 
voted on in this Congress has been voted on within 2 months of the 
President's signature. That is, those trade agreements with Morocco and 
Chile, Singapore and Australia, all passed the Congress comfortably by 
wide margins within 60 days of the President affixing his signatures to 
them.
  This trade agreement, CAFTA, was signed by President Bush in May of 
2004, and it has not been brought to this Congress for a vote for one 
simple reason. One simple mathematical reason: the votes simply are not 
there to pass this agreement. The votes are not there because of the 
opposition from dozens of Republicans and Democrats, the opposition 
from small manufacturers and labor unions, and the deep and

[[Page 15705]]

broad opposition from small farmers and from family farmers and 
ranchers and environmentalists. The opposition to CAFTA comes from 
Catholic bishops in Central America and Lutheran and Presbyterian and 
Jewish leaders in our country.
  It is clear this agreement would not pass the House of 
Representatives today because Americans, in larger and larger numbers, 
including Members of Congress, representatives of the American people, 
understand our trade policy simply is not working.
  Look at this chart. In 1992, the year I was first elected to 
Congress, we had a trade deficit. That means we exported less than we 
imported. We had a trade deficit of $28 billion. Last year, our trade 
deficit was $618 billion. From $38 billion to $618 billion trade 
deficit in only a dozen years. It is clear our trade policy is not 
working when we have these kinds of trade deficits, coupled with the 
budget deficits we have seen the last 5 years.
  Now, these might just be numbers to economists, these numbers about 
the trade deficit, but here is what they really translate into. The 
States in red are States which have lost 20 percent of their 
manufacturing jobs in the last 6\1/2\ years. The States in blue have 
lost 15 to 20 percent of their manufacturing jobs. Now, again, those 
are numbers, but think about this. My State, and the State of my 
colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), has lost 217,000; 
and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland), who has joined us, has 
lost 217,000. The State of our colleague, the gentleman from Oregon 
(Mr. DeFazio), has lost 28,000. The State of the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) has lost 224,000. My colleague over here, the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), has lost 32,000. Pennsylvania has lost 
200,000; New York, 222,000; Michigan, 200,000; Texas, 200,000 jobs; and 
California, 353,000.
  These are families who have lost their principal source of income. 
These are people living in school districts which have seen plants 
close and funding for education plummet. These are people who live in 
communities that have inadequate police and fire protection because the 
tax base in these school districts and in these cities and communities 
have been eroded when plants close. So it is clear that our trade 
policy simply is not working.
  Now, the supporters of the Central American Free Trade Agreement love 
to say three things: they say that CAFTA will increase jobs in the 
United States; they say CAFTA will mean more production, more 
manufacturing in exports to other countries; and they say that CAFTA 
will increase, enhance, bring up the standard of living in each of 
these developing countries in Central America and the Dominican 
Republic. Well, Benjamin Franklin said the definition of insanity is 
doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different 
result. Presidents always, President Clinton and now President Bush, 
always promise the same things, more jobs, more manufacturing exports, 
a higher standard of living in the developing world. It does not work.
  They tell us that these CAFTA countries will buy more American goods; 
that we will manufacture more goods and export them to these six 
countries. But, Mr. Speaker, if you look at this chart that says ``show 
me the money,'' look at the income levels. The United States income of 
the average person is $38,000; in Costa Rica it is 9,000; the Dominican 
Republic, 6,000; El Salvador, 4, 000; Guatemala, 4,000; Honduras, 
2,600; Nicaragua, 2,300.
  Guatemalans making $4,100 a year are not going to buy cars made in 
Toledo, Ohio, the district of my colleague. Hondurans making $2,600 a 
year are not going to buy software from the State of my colleague, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio). Nicaraguans making $2,300 a year 
are not going to buy a prime cut of beef from Illinois or from 
Nebraska. El Salvadorans making $4,800 a year are not going to be able 
to buy textiles and apparel from North Carolina and South Carolina and 
Georgia.
  Mr. Speaker, this trade agreement does not work. Defeat this CAFTA 
and renegotiate a better trade agreement for all Americans and all of 
Central America.

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