A New Trade Model for the American People

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, Congress spent this past week trying to fast-track Trade Promotion Authority and the new Trans-Pacific Partnership proposal for trade agreements with several nations in the Pacific; but why rush such a significant piece of legislation that cedes Congress' constitutional authority to the executive branch?

Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and President Obama are scheduled to meet on April 28 to further fast-track this agreement.

Rushing this process is an easy tactic to try to silence a reasonable opposition, but, based on our country's history of making trade deals that drive up our trade deficit and outsource millions of U.S. jobs, the American people should be alarmed. I and many others are sounding that alarm.

Japan is one of the most significant partners in this agreement, and it is the world's second largest currency manipulator and is one of the leading protectionist markets in the Pacific. They have much to gain from a weak trade agreement.

Japan is the world's third largest automobile market, but 96 percent of that market belongs only to Japanese automobiles. Since 2000, we have been able to sell 183,000 cars there, but guess how many they sold here--16.3 million. That is 89,000 to 1.

There is something wrong with trying to work a deal that rewards a country whose markets are closed. We need a new trade model that creates jobs in America again and that does not reward currency manipulators and protectionist markets.

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