[CTC] Labor and trade advocates Blast Portman's Record on Trade

[Citizens Trade Campaign]

The
<http://business-journal.com/clients/business-journal/democrats-blast-portma
ns-record-on-trade-p15987.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=1&mad=No>  Business
Journal 

March 18, 2010 By George Nelson

(Key Excerpts)

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- U.S. Senate candidate Rob Portman's performance as the
Bush Administration's trade representative came under fire Wednesday as
labor and trade advocates commemorated the five-year "anniversary" of his
appointment.

Portman served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from 1993 until 2005, when then-President George W. Bush named him U.S.
trade representative. He later served as director of the Office of Budget
and Management under Bush as well. 

"George Bush chose him for a reason. His votes in the House betrayed Ohio
workers time and time again," said Doug Sizemore, executive
secretary-treasurer of the Cincinnati AFL-CIO. Portman voted repeatedly to
fast-track international trade agreements, voted against helping workers who
had lost their jobs due to outsourcing, and voted against banning taxpayer
dollars from being used to outsource jobs, he said. Portman also supported
the North American Free Trade Agreement "and still thinks that it created
jobs," he added. "I can tell you there are 50,000 Ohio workers who would
disagree with him on that." 

Trade-related job losses and the U.S. trade deficit "skyrocketed under
Portman's watch," said Karen Hanson, director of the Ohio Conference on Fair
Trade. In Ohio, more than 17,000 workers had their jobs shipped overseas
during Portman's tenure as trade representative, and the trade deficit rose
by nearly 6.5%. "It's unthinkable for Portman to receive anything but
failing marks for his record as Bush's U.S. trade representative," she said.


Further, the trade imbalance with China spiked to more than $200 billion for
the first time in U.S. history under Portman, she continued, and what she
described as Portman's failure to address China's currency manipulation only
exacerbated the imbalance. The statistics "don't begin to reveal all the
collateral damage to Ohio families and communities by this decimation of our
manufacturing base in this state," Hanson remarked. 

Donnie Blatt, rapid response coordinator for the United Steel Workers of
America, District 1, blamed Portman's work as trade representative and his
votes in Congress for the loss of more than 100,000 steelworker jobs
nationwide, including 30,000 in Ohio, and disputed his claims of helping to
create millions of jobs. If that's the case, "Why do we have 35 out of 50
states that their unemployment funds are bankrupt?" he questioned. "I can
only assume that those millions of jobs were created in China, Mexico and
India." 

Posted at http://www.tradereform.org/content/view/2456/49/

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