REPORTS Congress of the United States House of Representatives January 2012
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U.S. REPRESENTATIVE · 4TH CONGREssIONAL DISTRICT · OREGON PETER DEFAZIO REPORTS Congress of the United States House of Representatives January 2012 Counties In $236 Federal Deficits (in billions) Creating Jobs, Crisis $128 Saving Counties 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 I opposed the Clinton Read more on $158 $161 Northwest Forest Plan in $248 1994 because it wouldn’t my efforts to $318 $378 deliver promised levels $413 stabilize rural counties $459 of timber harvest, and it and protect the health lacked protections for old of our forests, Page 3 growth. The Clinton Forest Plan in fact relied on a large volume of old growth FACTCHECK: harvests. $1,293 Wall Street $1,413 I predicted his plan Speculator Tax would lead to controversy Source: Office of Management and Budget and years of litigation. Over the last two decades Learn about my plan we have made little to generate revenue Three Step Plan to progress in addressing the and reduce market gridlock in our forests. volatility, Page 3 Responsible Budgets The extremes in this The accumulated debt of the U.S. passed $15 debate will never be trillion in November. For the first time since World War satisfied. II, our debt exceeds the gross domestic product. That’s a horrible legacy to leave our kids and grandkids. Some environmental Join my activists demand we stop Sometime in the near future I expect our credit harvesting all timber on telephone town card will be denied or interest rates will skyrocket. public lands no matter how hall meetings necessary that might be to If we want to save Social Security and Medicare preserve forest health and and make investments that put people back to work, rural jobs. There are some On Oregon’s Do-Not Call we must get our debt and deficit under control. in the timber industry who list but want to participate insist we return to the days in my telephone town hall On page four, you can read about my plan to that would liquidate the last put us on a path to fiscal responsibility. of the old growth on our meetings? public lands. SEE STEPS ON PAGE 4 I have been working Contact my Eugene with a diverse group of office at 800-944-9603 or stakeholders to build a send my office an email Fighting for Jobs bipartisan plan that creates through my website, and jobs through sustainable management, helps leave your name and phone Here at Home stabilize Oregon’s rural number so you can be For three years our nation has struggled with communities, and ensures included on the next call. high unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics the protection of old estimates real unemployment is hovering at a growth and forest health for stunning 16% percent and 25.5 million Americans future generations. are unemployed, underemployed, or have given up looking for work. After many hours of negotiation, compromise, Keep up with me We can and must do better for our people. We and hard work, I hope to cannot afford another year of congressional inaction. soon introduce legislation on Social Media with Rep. Kurt Schrader @RepPeterDeFazio on I have been pushing my colleagues to work on and Rep. Greg Walden real legislation that creates and keeps living wage to provide a long-term Twitter family jobs here at home. plan for Western Oregon communities. www.facebook.com/pe- On the following page, you can read about my work terdefazio on Facebook to put people back to work. SEE FORESTS SEE JOBS ON PAGE 2 ON PAGE 3 Continued from Page 1 Fighting For Jobs Here At Home INVESTING IN AMERICA AND BUY THREE MORE TRADE AGREEMENTS, AMERICA THREE MORE DISASTERS Our national transportation system is facing a crisis. As a result of so-called “free” trade agreements, 54,000 According to the National Surface Transportation U.S. manufacturers have boarded up or moved overseas Infrastructure Financing Commission, it has deteriorated over the last ten years according to the Bureau of Labor so greatly “our safety, economic competitiveness, and Statistics (BLS). The BLS also found that over five quality of life are at risk.” million family wage manufacturing jobs, including 53,000, in Oregon have disappeared. The U.S. is We need to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. Every $1 borrowing a billion dollars a day to buy foreign goods that billion invested in transportation infrastructure creates used to be made here at home. or sustains over 34,000 jobs and produces $6.2 billion in economic activity. In 2011, Congress recklessly passed three more free trade agreements (FTAs) These jobs are not just that will lead to the further construction jobs. They erosion of our already are also private sector jobs degraded manufacturing in engineering, software base. The Economic Policy and architectural design, Institute estimates these manufacturing, and small FTAs will cost the U.S. business as well. It would over 200,000 jobs and directly help businesses that increase our trade deficit supply materials for these by at least $20 billion. projects. There is no more certain way to jumpstart our The South Korea FTA economy, put people to work, will increase the U.S. trade and improve our long-term deficit, grant the Korean economic competitiveness. auto parts manufacturers easier access to American We must ensure that jobs markets, and may allow created by transportation U.S. to export more beef. investments go to American workers and businesses, not Panama is the Western China. Hemisphere’s leader in Congressman DeFazio discusses transportation legislation that would create jobs and sheltering drug runners Recently, Clackamas- fund critical road and bridge projects like this bridge in Eugene. and money laundering based Oregon Ironworks lost Photo Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation corporations, and it is home a federally funded bridge project to a Chinese company to over 400,000 corporations seeking to avoid U.S. taxes because of loopholes in current Buy American laws. I have and laws. Under the Panama FTA, these unsavory operators cosponsored “Buy America” legislation (H.R. 3533) that will enjoy greater access to U.S. markets. closes these loopholes, guarantees that federal investments create American jobs, and ensures that American The Colombian government ignores the murder businesses and workers can fairly compete for federally of labor activists seeking better working conditions. funded transportation projects. Under the Columbia FTA, they agree to try and stop the assassinations and in return they will become yet another base for U.S. manufacturers to access cheap, exploited FIGHTING FOR JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED labor to export goods back to American markets. AMERICANS These FTAs, like the previous agreements I opposed, In 2010, the Bend Bulletin reported that federal stimulus will not produce the promised benefits for our economy. funds were awarded to private contractors in Oregon who We need a new trade policy for this country. I have underbid their competition by using foreign laborers. After reintroduced the End the Trade Deficit Act, H.R.1603, reading the articles, I demanded the Inspector General (IG) which would prohibit new free trade agreements until a investigate these contracts. report on the causes and solutions of free trade agreements is provided to the president and Congress and acted upon. I The IG investigation found that these companies will continue to fight to protect American workers and exploited federal loopholes to hire foreign workers and that oppose our wrong-headed trade policy. federal and state agencies failed to properly oversee the contracts. FORCING CHINA TO PLAY BY THE RULES In October, I demanded the Department of Labor Last year, the U.S. Census reported that the U.S. trade (DOL) close these loopholes so businesses can’t skirt deficit with China was $273 billion or 42% of our total the law and hire foreign workers on federal contacts at international trade deficit. For every $1 in goods the U.S. the expense of American workers. The DOL agreed and exports to China, we import $4 of goods from China. The is revising several rules. Unfortunately, special interests U.S. trade deficit with China alone has cost us 2.8 million who pad their pockets by exploiting the law are fighting jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). this change. I am fighting to make certain congressional budget writers protect American workers by enforcing the China illegally manipulates their currency, which gives proposed changes. them an unfair advantage. The EPI found that by forcing China to revalue its currency, we could create 2.25 million Our workforce is one of the best in the world, and these jobs in the U.S. and reduce U.S. unemployment by one full contracts should have been awarded to companies that percentage point. I cosponsored the Currency Reform for would hire unemployed Oregonians. It is obscene that U.S. Fair Trade Act, legislation to require the U.S. take action companies were rewarded for abusing American workers against currency manipulators like China and impose and immigration laws to undercut honest competitors to retaliatory tariffs on their imports. squeeze unearned profits out of contracts. China does not play by the rules. The U.S. must I will continue to fight to fix these immigration defend American workers and businesses by enforcing loopholes. international trade laws. PAGE 2 Stop Reckless Speculation On Wall Street In November, I introduced the Wall Street Trading and sound fiscal footing. The $350 billion in new revenue will Speculators Tax. This bill places a .03% tax (30 cents on a reduce our deficit and enable federal investments that will $1,000 transaction) on most non-consumer financial trading put people back to work.