[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1599]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 WHAT ABOUT THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS?

  (Mr. ROSKAM asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago President Obama came 
and he addressed the House Republicans in our retreat in Baltimore, and 
I posed a question to him. And, in a nutshell, I asked, how about the 
free trade agreements?
  This is an opportunity where we can come together, both sides of the 
aisle, frankly, at a no-cost job creation initiative. And we've heard a 
lot of consternation and a lot of hand-wringing today, and we've seen 
it on the House floor, where Democrats are very, very concerned about a 
debt that they've inherited, they claim. Republicans have pointed out 
the national debt has tripled under their watch.
  And yet here is an opportunity to put together and to advance 
legislation that will open markets overseas in Panama, in Colombia, and 
in South Korea.
  And in a moment of candor, President Obama acknowledged that the 
lion's share of the problem was on his side of the aisle, that in fact 
it was politics in the Democratic Caucus that was preventing that from 
coming to the floor.
  And I think, Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity for us to transcend 
those problems and do a no-cost job creator, and that is pass these 
free trade agreements.

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