Date: 2011-10-13
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. thank you very much for yielding to me this morning. I wanted to share with my colleagues an important challenge that we have. And I think some would say how obvious with 9 percent unemployment. which I think we should be honest with ourselves and realize that it has been an accident that has been long in coming. Almost as if one slowed down on a rainy day and looked as if one was following the prudent rules of the road and decided to. in a moments notice. not only speed but speed through a stop sign. an accident waiting to happen. We have of course. had spending without accountability in two wars. Iraq and Afghanistan. preceding this administration. and. of course. tax cuts for the top 1 percent of the population. many of whom acknowledge that where there is opportunity and benefit. there must be sacrifice and contribution. And if we were to engage them in a reasoned discussion. we would find out. of course. that they would be willing to invest in America. I dont call it taxation. None of us enjoy getting that bill that deals with taxes. but we do understand the value of investing in America. Yesterday. we debated three trade bills. All of them are my friends. I have had the opportunity to engage with the communities represented by South Korea. Panama. and Colombia. Let me say in particular on Panama. my grandfather worked on the Panama Canal. The evidence is not his words to me. since he died before I was born. but it is the evidence of his name being printed in the annals of the Panamanian history of the canal right there at the canal site that I have visited on many occasions. What an emotional moment to see his name arise as one who helped construct and build in the 1900s amongst all the devastation. the mosquitoes. and disease. He survived and helped build the Panama Canal. So we have a longstanding relationship with them. We have a longstanding relationship with the canal. But the trade bills. for me. should answer one questionand I respect those who voted for it: Will it have an infusion of opportunity for those who have lost their jobs? Unlike some comments by Presidential candidates running for this job. I dont believe if youre unemployed and if you are not rich. it is your fault. There are college graduates who are unemployed today. There are skilled artisans and those who are in the trades who are unemployed today. There are returning veteransyoung men and womenwho led almost multinational companies in terms of the jobs that they had in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. How do I know? Because I have visited them and seen them in operation. If you are over the logistics of moving equipment and moving men and women. and youre 25 years old. I can assure you that you know how to work in a large corporation. Theres no evidence that these bills being passed at this time will in fact bring down the unemployment. I believe our chief responsibility is to find work for the American people. One of the challenges of the language of the trade bill is the question of protecting our intellectual property. Intellectual property creates jobs. It protects the genius of America. Of course. all of us through our history books have known about the origins of the telephone and we know the origins of the lightbulb and some of the geniuses that weve known in our early history. Many of us have heard of George Washington Carver. who did a lot with the peanut. America knows how to invent. We know how to do research. I have the privilege of having in my jurisdiction and surrounding areas the Texas Medical Center. where some of the most outstanding research is being done on cancer. which seems to be an epidemic in this country. So I argue we did not have sufficient protections for intellectual property. But here is the key. In addition to not having a direct correlation and an oversight on the passage of these bills which passed in the Senate last night and the creation of jobs that our population. our citizens. those that we are here to protect. those who were here to create a pathway of economic opportunity fora nexus of jobs. thats what you need to prove to me. And so I believe that we are missing a manufacturing strategy. It is interesting that we consider that old stuff and how proud we were of the Model T. I believe that we cannot go forward on trade bills. Mr. Speaker. until we focus on manufacturing in America. make it in America. and putting people back to work at all levels of education. Thats going to be my cause for now and forever and ever. I want America back to work. Its a great Nation. Its the greatest country in the world. Let us focus on our folks getting jobs and getting our folks back to manufacturing. making things. selling things. and America continues to serve this world as the greatest democracy and the greatest country in the world.