[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12591]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              MARKING THE 78TH ANNIVERSARY OF SMOOT-HAWLEY

  (Mr. HERGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, today marks the 78th anniversary of perhaps 
the most disastrous economic legislation in our Nation's history, the 
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1928. It set off a chain reaction of 
retaliatory tariffs that caused a sharp decline in global trade. Modern 
economists largely agree that it deepened the Great Depression.
  Unfortunately, today this lesson seems to have gone largely 
unnoticed, judging by the isolationist course the Democrat House 
leadership is currently embracing. Expanded trade is critical to job 
creation and economic growth, it levels the playing field for U.S. 
workers, and is crucial to keeping our Nation as the world's number one 
economic trading powerhouse.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States must reject the rising tide of 
economic isolationism and lead the world toward open markets.

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