{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-1994-12-20-pt1-PgE15", "1994-12-20", 103, 2, null, null, "URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS ACT", "HOUSE", "EXTENSIONS", "FRONTMATTER", "E", "E", "[{\"name\": \"William D. Ford\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"103\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"5110\"}]", "140 Cong. Rec. E", "Congressional Record, Volume 140 Issue 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 150 (Tuesday, December 20, 1994)]\n[Extensions of Remarks]\n[Page E]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[Congressional Record: December 20, 1994]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]\n\n                      URUGUAY ROUND AGREEMENTS ACT\n\n                                 ______\n\n                               speech of\n\n                          HON. WILLIAM D. FORD\n\n                              of michigan\n\n                    in the house of representatives\n\n                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994\n\n       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of\n     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5110) to\n     approve and implement the trade agreements concluded in the\n     Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations:\n\n  Mr. FORD of Michigan. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the\nimplementing legislation for the Uruguay round of the General Agreement\non Tariffs and Trade.\n  The GATT was conceived in the aftermath of World War II, when the\nAmerican economy was the world's strongest. The label ``Made in\nAmerica'' guaranteed a quality product, one that was superior to those\nmade in other countries. In that world, it was correct to assume that\nfreer trade virtually always helped Americans.\n  But times have changed. The world has become much more competitive.\nMultinational companies, both American and foreign, will use any\nlocation in the world to produce products if that location promises to\nreduce the costs of production. The globalization of production puts\nthe jobs of American workers into competition with workers who live in\ncountries which have virtually no labor standards. American workers\nwill inevitably lose the race to the bottom caused by such competition.\nThat is why economists estimate that the American manufacturing sector\nlost millions of good paying jobs to low-wage foreign countries in the\ndecade of the 1980's.\n  For this reason, this Nation's trade policy must now focus on\nensuring that American workers have a level field to play on. This\nfocus was entirely missing in the GATT negotiations and is entirely\nmissing from the agreement and its implementing legislation. I fear\nthat adoption of this legislation will leave the workers of the United\nStates powerless to fight against countries that seek to gain\ncompetitive advantage through the use of cheap or unsafe labor\nconditions.\n  This legislation also makes it very difficult for the United States\nto fight countries that use other methods to gain competitive\nadvantage. Under the GATT, it would be illegal for a country to enact a\ndomestic content law or to subject foreign goods to import quotas. The\nthreat of these actions saved the domestic auto industry in the 1980's\nhowever, because the threat of these actions led the Japanese to adopt\n``voluntary'' import restraints. The voluntary restraints gave our\nindustry and its workers the breathing space they needed to become\ncompetitive in the world. Now, the industry is hiring for the first\ntime in a generation. Does anybody doubt that unrestricted Japanese\ncompetition in this industry in the 1980's would have prevented this\nrecovery?\n  Free trade will impoverish us unless it is fair trade. We should not\nenter into agreements which strip us of our right to defend the living\nstandards of our workers and our ability to create good American jobs.\nI believe we can do better. I urge rejection of this legislation.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-1994-12-20-pt1-PgE15"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9983109086751938, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}