Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that America is losing its independence as goods that used to be made here are displaced by foreign imports. In fact, America is in unchartered waters today. We have an accumulated trade deficit of nearly $1 trillion a year. Today, I want to talk a little bit about super NAFTA and what the Bush administration is planning to lock NAFTA in even tighter in this country and across the continent. There is something called the Agreement on Security and Prosperity that is being negotiated by the Bush administration very quietly. No hearings are being held in this Congress. Most Americans have never even heard the term, but it really is the successor to NAFTA. In addition to what it anticipates in terms of a new transportation corridor that will come up through Mexico and the American highway into the United States, it also includes the incentives to major corporations, such as Ford Corporation of our country that is laying off people in our country, now an additional 30,000 jobs to be lost here in the United States, and Ford is planning to employed over 150,000 more workers in Mexico, announcing it will be investing over $9.2 billion in Mexico. It is hard to explain to the American people how big that investment really is, but truly it will employ 15 percent or 1 of 7 of all unemployed people in Mexico, so many of them having been uprooted from their farmsteads, because NAFTA included no transition provisions to allow people to have a life and to survive inside of Mexico's rural areas, and over 2 million families have been uprooted from Mexico's farm communities and are doing what, they are moving north to eat. At the heart of our illegal immigration problem is NAFTA's disruption of the Mexican countryside. But in any case, this Security and Prosperity Agreement, as it is being called, has no democratic underpinning to it. It is being negotiated by the very same elites that negotiated NAFTA. And let's look at some of the signs of what is happening. It is suddenly clearer why a company from Spain called Cintra wants to be the gatekeeper on this new highway structure to manage the flow of goods from Mexico, including the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that Ford Motor intends to manufacture in Mexico after making its $9.2 billion investment there. Cintra is a subsidiary of Ferrovial, the Spanish transportation company founded by multi-billionaire Rafael del Pino, who is one of the richest people in the world. Cintra already operates the Chicago Skyway, one of the nodes along the way here under a 99-year concession, and is planning development of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which is another part of this plan. Cintra is a 50/50 partner with Macquarie Infrastructure Group an Australian investment bank in another place in America called Indiana, where the Indiana Turnpike, can you believe this, has been leased to a foreign interest. And we are told that Ohio, the State that I represent, might be the next State to unwisely rent one of its major assets to a foreign nation. Human Events magazine recently had this description. It said, ``The North American Super Corridor Coalition is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing this international, integrated multimodal transportation system along the international midcontinent trade and transportation corridor.'' Where does that sentence say anything about the United States? Still, this group has received $2.5 million in earmarks from the U.S. Department of Transportation to plan this NAFTA superhighway as a 10- lane, limited-access road, plus passenger and freight rail lines running alongside pipelines originally laid for oil and natural gas. One glance at the map of the NAFTA superhighway on the front page of NASCO's Website will make clear that the design is to connect Mexico, Canada and the United States into one transportation system. But guess what is going to happen? If you look at what is going on in Mexico, guess where Mexico is getting most of the parts to put into their production? Not from the United States. They are getting them from China. In fact, a lot of production in Mexico has been moved to China. So imagine this: Huge container ships continuing to come in from China and Asia, hitting up against ports like Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico, where the workforce earns almost nothing, and the major ports in our country of Los Angeles, of Oakland, all along the west coast, I just wish we were shipping goods out. But right now our longshoremen and our dock workers are loading and unloading containers in the United States. But you can go around the United States. You can bring in that massive set of shipments from Asia through Mexico and up into the United States. And imagine if this corridor is then leased, leased to foreign interests who then charge tolls and become familiar with the transportation systems of the United States. This is the heart of America. This can displace every other major transportation system that we have if this is locked in piece by piece, and we have plenty of evidence that that is exactly what is going on already as an underpinning to this agreement that is being called security and prosperity. My question is, how much democracy will that agreement actually have in it? Will it be prosperity for all, or just for people who are rich enough to own global companies, like Cintra, that will invest anywhere, don't know the people in our communities, frankly don't care, and are willing to move production anywhere? The people of the United States had better wake up. We'd better ask ourselves why are Americans having to work so hard for less? Why is it more expensive for them to send their children to college, and then those kids graduate with huge debts? Why isn't your pension plan secure? Why are you having to pay so much more for health care? Why is not your retirement benefit there forever? Because these kinds of interests don't want you to have it because they are so filthy rich off the investments they are making globally. They don't care about you, they don't care about this country, they don't care about where you come from, and, my friends, they don't care about democracy.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this day of June 20, 2006, marks the 1-month anniversary of the mining disaster in Harlan County, Kentucky, where five miners were killed in another mine accident. I started thinking about the history of Harlan County and in paying tribute to these five brave Americans wanted to place in the Record the fact that these miners are from a region of our country that has been home to generations of coal miners with entire communities dependent on the mines. While the coal mines have gotten somewhat safer with deaths steadily declining as a result of stricter safety laws passed by the Congress of the United States, coal mining remains one of our Nation's most dangerous professions. This year has been a particularly deadly year. Our Nation held its breath before learning of the 12 deaths at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, and then we mourned with the families in Harlan County, Kentucky, after learning of the deaths of five miners killed at the Darby Mine in May. With the year just half over, we have already seen 33 coal mining deaths 6 months into this year. The names of Harlan County's most recent fatalities, Roy Middleton, Amon ``Cotton'' Brock, Jimmy D. Lee, and George William Petra and Paris Thomas, Jr., will now be added to a memorial honoring the ultimate sacrifice made by 1,200 coal miners that were killed in Harlan County since 1912. Harlan County has been the site of mammoth labor organizing battles between the United Mine Workers strike and the region's coal mining companies. The bloody strikes of the 1930s and 1973 earned Harlan County the nickname ``Bloody Harlan.'' Coal miners from this region know all too well the dangers of this dirty and dangerous business. The five miners from the Darby mine in Harlan County have joined another 104,574 miners that perished in our Nation's coal mines since 1900. To put this into perspective, this number would be about equivalent to one-third of the entire population of the largest city I represent, Toledo, Ohio. And keep in mind this number only accounts for the actual deaths, not the countless others that have been maimed in our Nation's dangerous mines. On this 1-month anniversary of these horrific deaths, Congress can point to recently passed legislation. But you know, Mr. Speaker, a couple hours' oxygen won't solve the problem either. This act certainly strengthens the mine safety requirements enforced by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, but what good does the law do for a grieving widow or an orphaned child? As our Nation struggles with another coal mining tragedy, I would like to place into the Record an old coal mining song, ``Come All You Coal Miners,'' sung by Sarah Gunning. Hopefully, some of the words in this song will remind us of those who have laid down their lives for us and the other 110,000 miners that go into the mines every day in this country facing death every single one of those days. Some of the words of the song read: ``They take your very lifeblood, and they take our children's lives. They take fathers away from children and husbands away from wives. Oh, miner, won't you organize wherever you may be and make this a land of freedom for workers like you and me.'' Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters).

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you very much, Ms. Waters. I could have no one that I admire more in terms of her love of community and her complete dedication to those who don't have enough voice in this Congress of the United States. To have that compliment from you means a great deal to me this evening. Thank you.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to mention to the gentleman from Arizona that some of the following school districts in your State will benefit directly, including the Mesa Unified School District, and schools in Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, Glendale, Yuma, Prescott and the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix is also involved in the dissemination of materials.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I continue to yield to the gentleman from Connecticut.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment and oppose the gentleman's effort to try to eliminate the funding for this program. Let me first begin by saying that the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO supports this effort as one that is strategic. Many of us on the committee also support it because it is educational. Let me explain to the gentleman that the organizations that will carry out the undersea exploration in the Black Sea and in the eastern Mediterranean will do this working under the authority of NATO. There are very preeminent scholars who are involved in this, including Mr. Bob Ballard, best known for finding the wreckage of the Titanic. The efforts in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean will be to explore underwater in a cooperative effort with our friends in both Ukraine and in Russia. The Government of Greece will be involved as well, but the instrumentalities that you talked about in this country are only locations through which some of our talented people have been selected and will be coupled with those of Ukraine, Russia and Greece. As you may or may not know, Russia has a base in Crimea, and as both Russia and Ukraine move towards NATO, I think it is important for the United States to find ways to work with them together so we can achieve a very progressive maturation and a set of relationships that include underwater exploration in which everyone feels they have a stake. One of the side benefits of this particular effort, so you know, is that there will be educational programs relating to math and science. This particular scientific endeavor will be broadcast through a live network of museums, science centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, and aquariums, perhaps the one the gentleman mentioned. There are literally hundreds of them, including Department of Defense schools in all of the NATO countries. So there is also a benefit for education. One of the goals is to take and broadcast through Ukraine and Russia so we work on this together. There is actually a term that they use, I might not have it exactly right, but it is like an instantaneous televideo connect where as they film underwater and begin to identify various undersea artifacts and conditions, and the oceanographers and the scientists involved will make this information available globally. So the Institute for Exploration Project is designed not only to help our strategic relationships in the region, but it has a benefit for children across the world. And by working on a project focused on exploration of the maritime conditions in those locations, we engage strategically with countries where we need to develop friendships and a common agenda without engaging in any kind of overt military activity. That is a bit of an explanation. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), who has been such a great colleague in helping the Ukrainian Caucus move this project forward.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding and for her leadership on a real strategy against terrorism. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. It contains no plan, no solution, no way forward. I support the Murtha plan, which clearly aims to more strategically engage U.S. forces to redeploy and be ready. Indeed, the invasion in Iraq has diverted our Nation from the war on terrorism and created a new terrorist training platform. Across the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, United States policy has engendered more hatred, yielding a counter-reaction of more radicalism and protest. In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation and a key ally in the Middle East and Africa, recent parliamentary elections yielded a quantum leap in representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical anti-Western party. This group now comprises 88 members of their parliament, up nearly 25 percent from 17 in the 2000 election. In the Palestinian Authority, the peace process with Israel is dead. Rather than parties moving toward peace with Israel, we witness another tragic breakdown as Fatah and Hamas mass in the streets and Israelis and Palestinians shoot and kill with abandon. Mogadishu, Somalia has just fallen into the hands of Muslim extremists. That failed state is another breeding ground for terrorism. In Afghanistan more loss of life has resulted this year than at any time since the U.S.-led invasion and President Karzai remains a prisoner of circumstance, unable to move freely without heavily armed guards. Mr. Speaker, we are not winning the war on terrorism. The situation in Iraq teeters on all-out civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiias. To win the war on terrorism, the United States must use our military assets wisely, not just robustly. We must transfer policing to Iraqi forces and remove ourselves as a source of friction. Secondly, we must decouple ourselves from the repressive oil dictatorships that create regional antagonisms there and become energy independent here at home. And, thirdly, the Palestinian-Israeli standoff must be elbowed to the peace table, because it is a primary lightning rod for unrest across the region. Our current presence in Iraq is counterproductive in the broader war on terrorism. Meanwhile, diplomatic channels are totally frozen by this administration. Unfortunately, this resolution offers no plan. It offers no solution. It offers no way forward. This Congress should support the Murtha plan for our military forces, redeploy and be ready.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record extraneous materials this evening, particularly an article from the Christian Science Monitor entitled ``Prices Rise, and Interest Rates Sure to Follow.'' This evening we have heard from many of our colleagues about the ensuing debate tomorrow on a very weak resolution concerning the ongoing war in Iraq. Tonight I would like to direct my comments to the terrible taxes that this war places on the American people. And not just taxes in the conventional meaning of the word because, indeed, this war is causing us to borrow money, which we must pay back, and we are borrowing it back from foreign countries. This war is costing us more every day. Over $300 billion and rising. We have to pay those dollars back because we are borrowing them. This war is placing a terrible burden on this economy as we now see prices rise and interest rates ticking up, which I will talk about in just a second. And, of course, the greatest tax is on the loss of life and the injury to body and limb of those that we have asked to fight the battles of this Nation, as well as innocent civilians who are being killed and injured across Iraq and the region. This war in Iraq is also exacting a terrible tax on the people of the Middle East and adjoining regions because it is yielding more terrorism, not less. This war is yielding more repressive regimes in places like Pakistan; in places like Egypt; in the Palestinian Authority; indeed, adjoining nations like Lebanon. The tax on democratizing regimes is getting heavier and heavier every day. There is more instability in the region as we watch the demonstrations in the West Bank and in Gaza, as we see Hamas and Fatah locked in internal struggles. There is more instability, not more stability. And most crushing for our country globally is the United States is losing respect across the world. We have fewer friends and more enemies and those who doubt the United States across the globe. Here at home we see rising interest rates, and that is the article I will enter into the Record tonight. Higher prices for such things as airline tickets, housing, health care, and, of course, gasoline are now starting to eat into consumers' pocketbooks. Indeed, this war is a terrible tax on the American people, and they are feeling it in their pocketbooks. Wednesday, the Labor Department reported the May consumer price index rose .4 percent after a .6 percent rise in April. This is well above the comfort level of the Federal Reserve, the Nation's chief inflation fighter. The Fed is going to have to raise interest rates more out of a desire to keep the market from thinking the new sheriff in town at the Federal Reserve is not serious about fighting inflation. Prices are rising against a backdrop of weakening housing and other parts of the economy. This war in Iraq is a heavy tax. Economists are most concerned that rising prices seem to have moved beyond the energy sector and removing food and energy, typically the most volatile prices from the inflation rate, indicates core prices rose in May .3 percent; and over the past 3 months, the core rate of inflation is up to an annual rate of 3.8 percent, the fastest pace in more than a decade. We are seeing a near-term acceleration in the core rate. An increase of half a percentage point at the next Fed meeting is a strong possibility before the Fed decides to back away. So we look at what this war is yielding on many levels. More terrorism, not less terrorism. Is it yielding more democratic regimes throughout the Middle East? No. The oil regimes continue to be as repressive as they ever were. There is not a single democratic nation anywhere in the region, and there will not be one for a long time to come. The United States ought to decouple itself from the repressive oil regimes it continues to support and become energy independent here at home. Is there a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli standoff? Are there ongoing negotiations? No. There is just shooting across borders. There are more demonstrations in the street. There is no back channel that is being actively promulgated by this administration to get the warring parties to sit down and finally reach a peace process following on the agreement that was attempted to be negotiated during the Clinton years. Have we seen freedom on the rise? No. We see repression on the rise, as beheadings and the election of people who are absolutely opposed to the United States without any sense of growing freedom. There was a gentleman down here on the floor earlier who said that they do want our freedom here in the United States, that is why they hate us so much. Actually, a number of those revolutionaries want freedom from what they see us representing in that region, and that is support of dictatorships, support of oil regimes, and we are yielding the counterreaction to many years of supporting brutal dictatorships in that part of the world. [From the Christian Science Monitor, June 15, 2006] Prices Rise, and Interest Rates Sure to Follow (By Ron Scherer) It could be a summer of rising interest rates. That's the sobering prospect for the U.S. economy following news that the inflation rate is running at a quickening pace. Higher prices for such things as airline tickets, housing, healthcare--and of course, gasoline--are now starting to eat into consumer pocketbooks. Wednesday, the Labor Department reported the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent, after a 0.6 percent rise in April. This is well above the comfort level of the Federal Reserve, the nation's chief inflation-fighter. The latest numbers just about guarantee the Fed will hike interest rates at the end of the month. Its new chairman, Ben Bernanke, an avowed inflation-fighter, may follow that with yet another increase in August. The inflation pop, however, comes at a time when the economy may be starting to cool. This could keep the Fed from hitting the brakes too hard. ``The Fed is going to have to raise rates more out of a desire to keep the market from thinking the new sheriff in town is not serious about fighting inflation,'' says Anthony Chan, chief economist at JP Morgan Private Client Services in Columbus, Ohio. ``Prices are rising against a backdrop of weakening housing and other parts of the economy.'' Economists are most concerned that rising prices seem to have moved beyond the energy sector. Removing food and energy--typically the most volatile prices--from the inflation rate indicates that ``core'' prices in May rose 0.3 percent. Over the past three months, the core rate of inflation is up to an annual rate of 3.8 percent, the fastest pace in more than a decade. ``We're seeing a near-term acceleration in the core rate,'' says Gregory Miller, chief economist at Suntrust Banks in Atlanta. ``An increase of half a percentage point at the next Fed meeting is a strong possibility before the Fed decides to back away.'' However, Mr. Chan reports that such a large rate hike is not likely. In the past, Mr. Bernanke has said previously, the Fed has tended to ``overshoot'' by raising rates too high or dropping them too low. The central bank would then have to change directions, confusing the markets. ``I don't think Bernanke is going to put in a strong case for a half a percentage point increase,'' Chan says. Though the inflation rate is accelerating, the economy has changed considerably since the last major period of inflation in the 1970s, Chan says. Back then, whenever the consumer price index rose, wages automatically ticked up via ``cost of living adjustments.'' Most of those arrangements are now gone, he says, particularly at manufacturing facilities, like General Motors Corp., where total remuneration is being cut, not raised. ``A slowing economy will eventually lead to diminished pricing pressures,'' Chan says. Until that happens, consumers are starting to feel the effects of rising prices on their pocketbooks. For example, airfares rose 2.6 percent in May, according to the CPI report. Brian Hoyt, a spokesman for Orbitz.com, says airline ticket prices this summer are up 10 percent over last year's. Amy Kelley of Calverton, N.Y., can attest to this. She's been searching for less expensive tickets for a vacation to Seattle. ``I can't find the bargains I used to,'' she says. While the higher airline prices are related to the rising cost of jet fuel, the CPI also points to rising medical expenses, which were up 0.3 percent in May. In Philadelphia, Warren West, president of Greentree Brokerage Services, says the cost of providing medical benefits to his employees rose 16 percent this year. ``There is no way to pass this on to the end user. We don't have that kind of pricing power,'' he says. In fact, inflation in services is a growing issue, says economist Robert Brusca of Fact and Opinion Economics in New York. ``The last two months there has been service-sector wage pressure,'' Mr. Brusca says, pointing out that two- thirds of the jobs in the economy are service-related. ``Inflation pressure on goods is not that bad, but in services they seem to be building.'' Part of the reason for the service-sector price increases is supply and demand, says Sandy Horwitz, an accountant in Coral Gables, Fla. His firm, Goldstein Schechter Price Lucas Horwitz & Co., has raised its billing rates 5 to 7 percent this year, he estimates. ``There is a shortage of accountants and pretty strong demand out there, so we need to meet people's salary requirements,'' he says. Miami lawyer Matthew Krieger says demand for his legal specialty, immigration law, is so strong he has been able to increase his billing rates from 10 to 20 percent this year. ``There is a shortage of good attorneys in our area,'' he says. ``It's a very complex area of the law.'' In terms of prices, ``rents'' is one of the fastest ascending groups. The government calculates rents by determining what individuals would pay for housing if they were renting to themselves. Last month, rents rose 0.6 percent, the fastest pace in years. Since housing represents 25 percent of the CPI, it is a significant contributor to the overall inflation jump. In Miami, landlord David Lombardy says tenants are not seeing rents climb--up about 30 percent in the past year, he estimates. A one-bedroom apartment at the Mirador on South Beach is now renting for $1,400 a month, up from $1,000 a month last year, he says. Still, Mr. Lombardy expects rents to drop eventually due to the rising number of luxury condominiums coming on the market. ``All those people who bought on speculation will try to flip them, and when they can't do that they will try to rent them. So this will bring rents down in 12 to 18 months,'' he says.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the red ink continues to pile up, both in our budget deficit and in America's trade deficit. The Commerce Department reported on Friday that the trade deficit is rising again, pushed up by oil prices and a flood of more imports from China. With oil imports over $70 a barrel, we know this trade deficit is going to swell as the year proceeds. The Commerce Department reported that the gap between what the United States sells abroad and what it imports rose to $63.4 billion in April, 2.5 percent higher than the March imbalance of $61.9 billion. We know that the trade deficit in both February and March just fell a tad, but it had hit an all-time high this January of $66.2 billion. And while economists noted that the April deficit was smaller than the $65 billion that had been expected, it is still the sixth largest trade deficit on record. This is a chart that takes a look at what has been happening ever since this Congress unfortunately passed NAFTA back in the early 1990s, followed by permanent normal trade relations with China, and what could be normal about that? Every single year the red ink gets deeper. Through the first 4 months of this year, the trade deficit is running 1.9 percent above the same period a year ago putting our country on track to run up a record deficit again for a fifth straight year. Last year's deficit, as this chart indicates, was three-quarters of $1 trillion, three-quarters of $1 trillion. To cover this red ink, we have to borrow. We have to import capital to offset what we are not exporting in goods. America is in uncharted waters. We have never, ever experienced this situation before. Some people have commented that our country is handing over $2 billion a day to foreigners to cover this trade gap. The increase in the April trade deficit reflected a .7 percent rise in imports which climbed to $179.1 billion, the second highest level on record. In other words, the trend is in the wrong direction. In addition to higher oil bills, imports of autos and auto parts were up and shipments of consumer goods from China such as furniture, televisions, video recorders and toys all rose. More imports coming in, fewer imports going out. Major U.S. companies like La-Z-Boy are having trouble in the market, because products are coming in from China where workers make pennies a day. We have lost our entire television industry. Not a single television is made in this country any more. Companies in the automotive parts industry like Delphi are trying to struggle to hang on. We are living through the hollowing out of our country. We are propping up this loss of real wealth and production capacity with borrowed capital. We are in uncharted waters. America has never been here before. The markets are reflecting it. Today, in the New York Times, major headline: Broad economic worries drive global sell-off. What is happening is there are huge drops in the market. Standard & Poor 500 stock index fell 1.3 percent, erasing all of its gains for this year and closing at its lowest level since November. The NASDAQ fell more than 2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 1 percent. Damage was far worse in markets around the world. American manufacturers claim, well, you know, the problem is just with China that their currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent. But I can remember when they said that to me about Japan 16 years ago. Marcy, when the yen-dollar relationship comes into balance, we will have a trade surplus with Japan. No, no. No trade surplus with Japan because they still have a closed market, and we act like they don't. So we take their products, but they don't take our products. So Japan has now become our largest financer, and every day we pay them interest on their greater and greater loans to us. Mr. Speaker, America cannot continue on this course. In fact, analysts are saying the deficit will set an even higher record this year, probably close to $1 trillion, if we keep going at the rate that we are going today. The deficit with Japan rose by 2.8 percent in April to $7.8 billion. The deficit with Canada rose 16.3 percent to $6.1 billion in April, while our imbalances with Mexico, with Korea, well, gosh, with about every other country in the whole world, just kept going up. The sad thing for our country is it looks like this year will be the first year in our history we will import more agricultural goods than we export. This is not the America we should be leaving to our children and grandchildren. Let's elect people to this Congress and to this Presidency who will put America's financial house in order and make us independent again. [From the New York Times, June 13, 2006] Broad Economic Worries Drive a Global Sell-Off (By Vikas Bajaj and Jeremy W. Peters) Fears about higher interest rates, rising inflation and a slowing economy sent stocks sharply and broadly lower yesterday, with emerging markets taking the biggest hit. In the United States, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 1.3 percent, erasing all of its gains for the year and closing at its lowest level since November. The Nasdaq fell more than 2 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average fell almost 1 percent. But the damage was far worse in some other parts of the world. Trading at the Colombian stock exchange was briefly halted after its benchmark index fell more than 10 percent. Mexico's benchmark stock index fell 4.3 percent, its biggest one-day decline in more than 3 years. Markets in India, Brazil and Hungary also tumbled. Emerging markets had enjoyed a strong surge in recent years because low interest-rate policies around the world pumped cheap money into the global economy, analysts said. ``Global liquidity has helped drive a lot of these risky assets,'' said Larry Adam, chief investment strategist at Deutsche Bank Alex Brown. ``And now you are seeing this flight to quality,'' including cash and investments in developed countries, he said. At first glance, stocks in the United States and Western Europe do not appear to have benefited from the emerging- market retreat, but money coming out of emerging markets may be helping to cushion the blow, Mr. Adam said. Yesterday's sell-off started early and gathered pace throughout the day. Some analysts suggested that a major catalyst was a speech by the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Sandra Pianalto, in which she said that inflation was higher than her ``comfort level.'' Ms. Pianalto was the latest Fed official to express concerns about inflation in the last several days, a drumbeat that many investors think is a not-so-subtle message that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates, now at 5 percent, at its next meeting on June 29. Earlier, the Fed had indicated that it might pause in its two-year campaign of raising rates. The Fed is ``adding to a little of this hysteria that is building,'' said James W. Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management. To be sure, Ms. Pianalto, who is one of the 11 officials who vote on Fed's interest rate policies, said that inflation, though worrisome, was not an ominous threat to the economy. ``Measures of long-term inflation expectations have been mixed lately, but, on the whole, I regard them as remaining contained,'' she said to a gathering of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association in Florida. The challenge of Fed policy makers, she said, ``is to make sure that they stay contained.'' The government will issue reports on wholesale and consumer inflation today and Wednesday. Excluding energy and food prices, economists expect both the producer price and consumer price indexes to have risen 0.2 percent in May, a rate considered to be modest by most experts. The biggest loser yesterday, as in the last few weeks, was the technology industry. Many large technology companies, struggling to match past growth as they mature, have been lowering their profit projections. For the second quarter, the technology area's profits are expected to to fall 2 percent from the same period last year while the overall increase in the S.& P. 500 is expected to be 10 percent, noted Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's. ``This is supposed to be a growth industry,'' he said. The Nasdaq was led downward by Qualcomm, the maker of wireless technology, which fell 5 percent yesterday after it filed a complaint against its rival Nokia as part of a lengthy patent fight. Shares of Apple fell almost 4 percent, apparently reflecting investors' concerns about efforts by some European countries to force the company to open up its music software to devices other than the iPod. One of the few exceptions to yesterday's broad sell-off was General Motors, which rose 43 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $25.78. It was the Dow's biggest gainer. The shares moved higher as the president of the United Automobile Workers, the company's biggest union, told members that the union would have to rethink its traditional positions to ensure the domestic automobile industry's survival. The stock also appeared to be reflecting investors reaction to news of an agreement late Friday that could avert a costly strike at G.M.'s largest supplier, Delphi. Many market experts remain convinced that the recent correction in stock prices will prove temporary and will be contained to a few areas. They note that inflation, though rising, remains low by historical standards. But the market's volatility has intensified and will probably remain high, analysts say. ``It is a retrenchment,'' Mr. Silverblatt said. But ``companies are still in good shape.'' The Dow fell 99.34 points, to close at 10,792.58, its lowest level since Feb. 7. The S & P 500 declined 15.90 points, to 1,236.40. The Nasdaq fell 43.74 points, to 2,091.32. The Russell 2000 stock index of smaller- capitalization companies, fell 18.2 points, or 2.6 percent, to 683.19. Declining issues led advancing stocks by 3\1/2\ to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Treasuries fell slightly. The price of the benchmark 10- year note fell \1/32\, to \1014/32\. The yield, which moves in the opposite direction of the price, rose to 4.98 percent, from 4.97 on Friday. Here are the results of yesterday's auction of three- and six-month Treasury bills: [000 omitted in dollar figures] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3-Mo. Bills 6-Mo. Bills ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Price................................... 98.786 97.510 High Rate............................... 4.800 4.925 Investment Rate......................... 4.926 5.121 Low Rate................................ 4.760 4.880 Median Rate............................. 4.780 4.905 Total applied for....................... $39,754,505 $34,750,526 Accepted................................ $22,838,196 $20,264,834 Noncompetitive.......................... $2,150,786 $1,697,043 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Both issues are dated June 15, 2006. The three-month bills mature on Sept. 14, 2006 and the six-month bills mature on Dec. 14, 2006.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time and to address the House for 5 minutes.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to identify with the remarks of the gentleman from Kansas and say that this is likely to be the first year in America when we will import more food than we export. It is another sign of what is happening to the innards of this economy. Agriculture has always helped America maintain her independence. We best keep that in front of us as we move forward. I wanted to come to the floor tonight to talk about and pay tribute to something on the manufacturing side of our economy, a company that has been noted for excellence as a top-of-the-line firm. I talked about it a little bit earlier during the Special Order dealing with the economy; but Maytag Corporation, headquartered in Newton, Iowa, sadly, will be closing. I own no stock in this company. I have no personal worth associated with it, but I am one of the millions of American homeowners and householders who says ``thank you'' to those who helped build and maintain this great American company. Thank you for the excellence of your products. The company was founded in 1893 by F.L. Maytag, 35 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, in Newton, Iowa. Soon it, along with sister plants in Arkansas and Illinois, will be closing, idling 3,000 more people losing their jobs in manufacturing in those places. Hopefully, some of them will be able to find other jobs. But the point I want to talk about tonight is you just don't replace a Maytag company. The generations of Americans who crafted, built, and serviced this all-American product deserve recognition in this Congress. They should be proud of the heritage of which they are a part and of their commitment to quality. Maytag Corporation when it shuts its doors will be closing a chapter in American history that for generations stood for quality and high performance. It was America's industry leader. Maytag helped define America's manufacturing heartland. In fact, Maytag itself symbolized the words ``quality'' and ``dependability.'' Some people will say, well, a washing machine is a washing machine. A dryer is a dryer. What does it matter? Yes, there are other companies, Mr. Speaker. There are other companies. But they don't match Maytag's sterling reputation for product quality. How often have we seen in the age in which we are living the dumbing down of American manufacturing and its displacement by lesser quality products made with lesser quality parts, many of which are imported from foreign countries? We have witnessed the demise of the U.S. television industry, the furniture industry, the automotive industry, the loss of our energy independence, and now probably this year the loss of our agricultural independence. It is correct. The average age of farmers in this country is now 59 years old. What about America's agricultural future? But in this industry of home appliances, an industry leader is brought to its knees as excellence again gives way to global market pressures. As I have studied Maytag's componentry compared to competing products, I am struck by how much America is really losing. It is losing more than a company. It is losing a standard of excellence. Mr. Speaker, Maytag's quality was more than marketing. Maytag was real. It really was excellent. Its corporate success began with fine design, careful craftsmanship, investment in research and development, and employment of excellent raw materials. Maytag's employees were proud citizens, living in a proud Republic. They knew they were helping to build a strong America, and they did that every day for over a hundred years. For Maytag, quality was achieved on several levels. Most Americans know Maytag through its commercials which show the lonely Maytag repairman who never got a call for servicing because America's homemakers simply didn't have problems, or rarely did, with Maytag machines. Quality was number one. Maytag's performance was assured by a long history of investments in research and design that assured that quality. Only recently when they became a victim of the downsizing that is hitting U.S. manufacturing did the firm begin to cut back on research and development. The trickle down effect of foreign competition and the cheapening of componentry affected Maytag. The list of Maytag's engineering bests compared to competitors has been documented and is extensive. This is what we are losing, to name a few: heavy duty stabilizing springs that assured best performance. That sounds like a simple thing to make, but it isn't. Heavy duty base leveling legs; gauge quality in the metals; high torque motor; counterbalancing tubs. And the type of transmission that had only three parts, not 30, and, therefore, repairs were kept to a minimum. Mr. Speaker, as I end this evening, Maytag earned our trust: ``The value you demand from the brand you trust.'' America can't afford to lose a company like Maytag.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Could I just comment on that to say the reason we have all this illegal immigration from south of our border is because NAFTA for the Mexican people totally disemboweled their rural countryside. It was planned. We have had over 2 million people who have lost their livelihoods. Peasant farmers. It is a sacrilege on this continent as far as what is going on. And the people have nowhere to go but to try to come up here to get food. They run across deserts. They risk their own lives lives. And why? Because their farmsteads were taken away from them. They have nowhere to go. I tried to get agricultural amendments for transition in Mexico passed when NAFTA was considered. They were disallowed on the floor of this Congress under the Fast Track procedure, and now we are reaping the wrath of that agreement. Those folks that are coming up here, illiterate, risking everything, for why? To feed their families. That is the reason for the illegal immigration. Unless we fix NAFTA, we are not going to fix the illegal immigration problem in this country. I don't care how many fences they build.

Ms. KAPTUR. No Republican votes. No Republican votes. So the problem is that we cannot do what is right for this country, and all that money we paid in interest due to borrowings we could fully fund the homeland security additional needs that we have. We could take care of those kids that cannot pay their college tuition. We could take care of veterans. We could take care of the water and sewer lines that the gentleman from Ohio, ``Mr. Ryan'' was talking about. That is how big $200 billion is. Roll all those agencies together, paid for, but not when you are extending yourself by all these borrowings. And when the new head of the Federal Reserve made a statement that interest rates might have to go up because of this capital crunch our Nation is facing because of this debt, the markets got so skittish. The stock market dropped a couple days in a row. The real estate industry went crazy because they know if those rates go up, the kind of foreclosures you are experiencing in Massachusetts and we are definitely experiencing in Ohio are going to skyrocket. So the economy is at a critical edge. We are in unchartered waters in terms of the importance of these borrowings and the down draft that that is creating inside this society. It is really a very dangerous situation. At the beginning of the 21st century when President Clinton left office, and there was much I disagreed with him about, but we had a balanced annual budget and were beginning to pay down our accumulated debt. And I can remember Alan Greenspan saying when we are getting down to zero and we were starting to pay not just the annual deficit down but the accumulated debt, he said, well, gosh, you know, it might be dangerous for America not to have some debt. And I remember hearing that statement and I thought what? What? America's strength comes from standing on her own two feet. What kind of international investments does he have?

Ms. KAPTUR. I want to endorse what the gentleman says and mention that the arrests that just occurred in Toronto were due to people driving up through Ohio, through Windsor, and going up into Canada. And we have been trying to get homeland security money at the northern border, and the Bush administration has just produced a budget, with their allies here in Congress, that cut the amount of money that cities like Toledo and Detroit, Cleveland received to protect this border with Canada. We cannot even get Coast Guard patrols up on Lake Erie. Members like Peter DeFazio of Oregon here have fought so hard to try to get 100 percent funding. We have had amendments in our committee to examine all containers offshore before coming to this country. They are simultaneously defeated every single time that we offer them.

Ms. KAPTUR. A debt-free America. And I thought, hey, wait a minute, which bondholders is he having dinner with up there on Wall Street? What is going on? And look at what happened on NAFTA. When the peso went south after NAFTA was passed, Wall Street bailed them out. Well, who are their little friends? Who is the club up there, the Wall Street club, that governs what happens across this society? The person on Main Street in Toledo, Ohio, wants a balanced budget. They want a debt-free America. They know that makes America strong. They are not willing to accept this kind of financial dependence that our country has gotten itself into.

Ms. KAPTUR. Well, I think that the proof is in the pudding. Every single trade agreement this country has gotten itself into, whether it is NAFTA that was supposed to give us jobs, which has cost us nearly 1 million jobs now, was supposed to yield a trade surplus and it has yielded growing trade deficits. The same is true with the CAFTA countries. Now they want to push FTAA. If you look at what is happening to our country, we are losing the ability to produce the wealth that provided the middle class standard of living for a vast majority of our people, and that was America's great achievement in the 20th century. In addition to defeating Naziism and communism, it was our great achievement in the economy where we helped lift an entire society. We provided for seniors in their retirement years. We made affordable college education possible for those who had the ability and the will. And now we look at this century and we look at those possibilities being diminished for the families that used to see rising standards of living and rising tides. And it goes right back to mismanagement of the economy, the overborrowing that is going on, the lack of production, the lack of trade agreements that really open markets so that we can sell products and earn income so that we do not go into these trade deficits and end up having to monetize that through borrowing.

Ms. KAPTUR. Would the gentleman keep that chart up there? What amazes me about that statement is Mr. Gringrich was on the advisory board to the Secretary of Defense when the war started. He was one of the people giving advice. So he was one of those responsible for billions of dollars being wasted. I find that very interesting that he would make that statement. I hope he does not try to resolve himself from his own responsibility.

Ms. KAPTUR. I have asked several economists, how do you describe where America is headed? They said, right now, based on these borrowings and the situation in our economy, America is in uncharted waters. She has never been here before.

Ms. KAPTUR. And their parents have borrowed against their homes and home equity borrowings have risen to as high as they can go, and they can't be borrowed against anymore. The State of Ohio has the highest rate of home foreclosure in the Nation because the economy is not galloping ahead and people are borrowed to the hilt and there just is not anymore well to go to in order to finance their kids education and other expenditures that they have.

Ms. KAPTUR. If the gentleman would yield on that point.

Ms. KAPTUR. If the gentleman would yield on that very good point. If you look back, they say to us, the Secretary of Treasury that just left, Mr. Snow says you know the real problem with China is the yuan. If we just vary the currency exchange rate, all of our problems will be solved. That is what they said to us back during the 1980s when Reagan was President. Don't worry about the trade deficit with Japan. When the yen-dollar exchange rates gets low enough our trade balance will just automatically come back into the black for the United States. Guess what? It never has because Japan is not an open market. China is not an open market. And if you look at who is, on the prior chart the gentleman had up there, if you look at who has lent us the most money, Japan, they are earning it off of us rather than opening their markets to U.S. automotive parts, to U.S. Maytag washing machines. You have got a closed market in Japan now using China as a back door for manufacturing with imported parts that are being put into everything. And we are not competing globally on a level playing field and it is killing our workers, and Washington refuses to respond.

Ms. KAPTUR. I am so happy to see the chart that Congressman Ryan has put up there on how much interest we are paying on our borrowing, and I will let him go into that in detail. But I will just recount a story. Back when I was first elected to the Congress during the 1980s and served on what was then the Banking Committee, now called Financial Services. That tells you something right there. We went from a nation that believed in savings to a nation that believed in borrowing, and now we owe everybody because the whole banking philosophy changed. And we, at that point, had only about 8 percent, between 6 and 8 percent of our bonds that were sold to foreign investors. And I said, hey, we shouldn't go over 10 percent. We should make sure, went to see Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, all the different heads of the Fed, and said let us work on a program so the American people can buy our debt instruments. Why should we be selling more and more of these debt instruments to foreign countries? And they said oh, Congresswoman, it is too much trouble to get the Fed to have a website and to let grandmothers buy saving bonds for their grandkids, you know, get it at the bank and so forth. And I told them, put it in the Post Office. Let's have postal savings stamps like Roosevelt used to have. Let's own ourselves. Let's not be owned by foreign interests. And I can remember Mr. Greenspan saying to me, well, you know, we like to deal with 20 bond houses up on Wall Street. And I said how much of a fee do you pay them, Mr. Chairman? How much of a fee? And why shouldn't that be owned democratically across this country rather than just a few people in New York controlling our future? So I just put that on the table here. Now over half of our debt securities are being purchased by foreign interests, and we owe what Mr. Ryan will now explain to the country.

Ms. KAPTUR. I would be pleased to yield.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank Tim Ryan of Ohio, my neighbor and friend, and also Mr. Delahunt of Massachusetts for getting the time this evening to talk about the real issues that the American people care about that don't get enough attention on this floor as we are designating more honorary days and bills that do not have a lot of substance attached to them, when the American people actually expect us to do something here to benefit their lives and their children's lives today and tomorrow. On the Iraq issue, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I tried to get amendments passed in our committee when Mr. Bremer was head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, when we saw billions and billions of dollars being extended to that authority with no accountability back to this Congress. Originally, they came to us with a proposal of $20 billion with no strings attached, with no accounting back to this Congress. Eventually that was reduced down somewhat. But of the dollars that were expended, we were not able to get reports back from the administration because amendments were disallowed in our committee for the billions of dollars that have gone to who knows where over there. Now they are trying to get amendments to look at maybe $6 billion that was expended. But let me tell you, the horses were out of the stalls before there were proper accounting procedures put into place. The truth will come out. But the record is clear who sought to get amendments and those who blocked them. That is in the record in the committee. It is outrageous. I can remember when Paul Wolfowitz, who is no longer with the government, the President's big advisor on invading Iraq, when he said we would have this all paid for by oil sales, and we surely do not see that as even part of the equation. As I thank my colleagues for organizing this Special Order tonight, I wanted to give a very specific example of what is happening in this country, not in Ohio, not in Massachusetts, but in Iowa and Arkansas and Illinois. As we do this Special Order, I would like to pay special tribute to excellence in a top-of-the-line quality company that is closing its doors, a company called Maytag Corporation that is headquartered in Newton, IA. Let me say for the record I own no stock in Maytag Corporation. But our family, our household, is one of those who has appreciated the excellence of their products that have served the American people and the world for over 100 years. Sadly, this legendary American company, first founded in 1893 by F.L. Maytag, 35 miles east of Des Moines, IA, is soon to close its doors. And in Iowa, as well as subsidiary plants in Illinois and Arkansas, over 3,000 Americans will lose their jobs. The generations of Americans who crafted and built and serviced this all- American product called Maytag deserve recognition in this Congress. They should be proud of the heritage of which they are a part and of their commitment to quality. For indeed, their quality and dependability helped build the America that was self-reliant here at home. The gentleman from Ohio was talking about how the United States is becoming more and more indebted to foreign creditors. Maytag was the kind of company that built a strong America. It was an America that did not become overly reliant on imports and imported componentry to support its operations. It was an America that believed that its own identity and strength depended on domestic firms dedicated to excellence, and we led the world. The company valued its product, its community, and its workers. And when the gentleman from Massachusetts was talking about pensions being taken away, it was the kind of company that really did build community where people could depend on their retirement income. I feel compelled to discuss for a few minutes, to pay tribute to this historic company, truly an American icon company, and its workforce. As America says good-bye to Maytag, we also say good-bye to the type of firm that shaped our identity as a society. That identify made the United States a world leader in the 20th century in manufacturing and agriculture. And that identity has been clouded by the very issues you are talking about here tonight by our growing over-dependence on imported products and imported capital from across the oceans, and Maytag represented that part of our history when America understood what it had to do to build the best. The American people will soon witness the pink-slipping of Maytag's thousands of workers and sadly become part of our history. Of course, and this goes into a point that Mr. Ryan and Mr. Delahunt mentioned, the most recent chief executive officer of Maytag who brokered this closure and sale is reputed to have made over $18 million in a golden parachute on the deal. So my remarks tonight are really directed to the workers and management staff who hoped this day would never come. Wouldn't it be nice for America's consumers like myself to be able to travel to Newton, Iowa, and Heron, Illinois, and Searcy, AR, and say ``thank you'' to these workers and their families and friends who helped build an American legend company for over a century. Let's say thank you to them tonight. Maytag Corporation, when it shuts its doors, will be closing a chapter in our history for generations that stood for high quality and high performance when they were America's industry leader. They helped define the manufacturing heartland from which Mr. Ryan and myself come, and their company represented the words ``quality'' and ``dependability.'' I will talk later about what made their products superior, but it is really amazing to me that we live in a time when we allow this kind of gold star company to bite the dust and we cannot even talk about it here in the Congress except during this particular period of time. Their production will disappear and it will, just like our furniture industry, just like the television industry, just like us becoming energy dependent, it will become another nail in the coffin in America becoming too reliant on others.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I wish to especially thank Congressman Carter for allowing me this special privilege of appearing before he does this evening. Mr. Speaker, the wonderful time about speaking at this time of day is we get to cover subjects that may not be on the agendas of any committee but are of importance to the American people. Tonight, I want to talk about the long-term consequences of a trade agreement called NAFTA that passed over a decade ago. We were promised, as the American people, that NAFTA would result in more jobs, trade balances with Mexico and with Canada, and a higher standard of living in all of our countries. Indeed, exactly the opposite has happened. This country has now shipped out over 880,000 jobs, nearly a million jobs and still counting, to Mexico and to Canada, and we have not amassed any trade surpluses but, indeed, have fallen into deep deficit with both countries. I have a couple of charts here that talk about this. Trade accounts with Mexico prior to NAFTA signing were positive. Every single year since NAFTA's signing, we have gone into deeper and deeper and deeper deficit, now over $50 billion a year, the largest ever, with each billion dollars representing a loss of 20,000 more jobs in this country. With Canada, the other country with which we were supposed to experience a trade surplus, we have also fallen into deficit. In fact, we have doubled the deficit that we had with Canada. And what is amazing about this is that every year it gets worse. The American people inherently know this because it is happening to them directly. At the same time in this country we have increasing illegal immigration, much of it from south of our border. What is interesting, most of the debate about immigration doesn't even touch on NAFTA. Yet if you look at what NAFTA has caused inside of Mexico, over 2 million peasant farmers have been displaced and another 500,000 more are coming each year. And why is that? Because the very small farmsteads of Mexico, in the Sinaloa Valley all the way down to Xcalas and Oaxaca are being destroyed. The agricultural provisions I tried to get into NAFTA back in 1993 were never allowed to be considered on this floor. If we had done that, we would have been able to address the tragedy that is occurring in Mexico, which is the complete elimination of their small holders and their farmers. I call it a continental sacrilege, the heartlessness that is embedded in NAFTA that is costing jobs in our country, costing jobs in Canada, costing the loss of life as people flee to try to feed themselves, as their whole way of life is being totally destroyed in Mexico. This week something very important happened. In the city of Ottawa, Canada, the capital city of our sister state up north, a major meeting was held between parliamentarians of the United States, Canada, and Mexico to begin to push back a continental effort to reform NAFTA. Both legislators, like myself, and representatives of those two governments, along with civil society groups met in Ottawa to halt NAFTA-plus, the expansion of NAFTA, something being called the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Instead, at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday, we announced that networks from across Canada, the United States, and Mexico are going to unveil a plan to bring an end to the kind of deep damage that NAFTA is causing in all three countries and replace it with a people-centered trade model. As I said in my remarks in Canada, trade agreements in North America must ensure rising standards of living and increase jobs in all of our countries. We met this week in Ottawa, and that meeting followed one we held last year in this city of Washington, D.C. This was our second forum. We will have a third in Ottawa a year from now, and likely a meeting in Mexico City in August. As one of our parliamentarians said, NAFTA has aggravated poverty across our continent. And the new Democratic Party Parliamentarian, Peter Julian of Canada said, ``There is no doubt that under NAFTA, most Canadians are poorer. We have been fighting to make adjustments,'' he said, ``and now it is clear that NAFTA has to be replaced.'' It is not working for the vast majority of the inhabitants of North America. It has failed on the bottom line. In anticipation of a summit that will be held in Ottawa in March 2007, called the ``Three Amigos Summit,'' our group will create a North American secretariat to prepare for counter information and counterproposals and introduce simultaneous legislation in this chamber in Ottawa and in Mexico City to replace NAFTA. We will build opportunities for public engagement in civil society across this continent on the issue of proper continental integration. Mr. Speaker, a new charter for the people of the Americas is being drafted, one that will result in more democracy, more cooperation, more development for rising standards of living, not more loss of jobs and greater trade deficits.