[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23631]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                         AFTA AND DRUG CONTROL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, last month, 10,500 North 
Carolinians lost their jobs. Many of those jobs were in the 
manufacturing sector. Why? Misguided trade policies like ``Most Favored 
Nation'' trade status for China, Trade Promotion Authority, and an 
explosion of free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA.
  It appears this administration wants to eliminate more U.S. 
manufacturing jobs by signing another free trade agreement, this one 
with the low-wage countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. This 
agreement is called AFTA, Andean Free Trade Agreement. It is being 
negotiated as we speak.
  In addition to eliminating U.S. jobs, AFTA is likely to increase the 
amount of cocaine coming into this country. U.S. negotiators are 
pushing the Colombians to agree to provisions that will force many of 
their poor farmers into cocaine production. That cocaine will 
undoubtedly come flooding into American neighborhoods. I urge my 
colleagues to look into this issue, because if there is one thing this 
country does not need, it is a new trade agreement that exports U.S. 
jobs and increases imports of deadly drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, I think too many times we in the Congress try to do what 
we think is right, but when it comes to sending jobs down to Central 
America or to China or other countries, it is not good for the American 
workers.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, tonight I am going to close by asking the 
American people to please remember our men and women in uniform who are 
serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, to please remember the families who 
have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I close by asking God 
to please bless our men and women in uniform.

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