[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17755]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         IN OPPOSITION TO CAFTA

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I take my 1 minute today to discuss 
CAFTA because there will be little meaningful debate on the most 
important trade bill of this Congress. CAFTA is important less because 
of what is in it than what is not and because what it has come to 
represent.
  I come from a trade-oriented community, and I believe in honest 
trade. I personally asked President Bush to insist upon bipartisan 
trade legislation that would command at least 250 votes in this 
Chamber. This is possible if we are fair to workers at home and abroad 
and more sensitive to the environment.
  Instead, CAFTA has been crafted to be the lowest common denominator 
calculated to pass. By pandering to special interests, it reminds one 
of the old television show ``Let's Make a Deal.''
  This is a lost opportunity. I will no longer support suboptimal trade 
agreements and await the day when we put principle and people before 
raw political calculation, pretending that it is trade policy.

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