Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, I yield
such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL).
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission
to revise and extend his remarks.)
1999 Ron Paul 82:1 Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the
gentleman for yielding me this time. I
rise in opposition to this resolution
and in support of free trade.
1999 Ron Paul 82:2 Mr. Speaker, the reason a country engages
in free trade is not altruism — we do not encourage
trade and low tariffs for the benefit of
a trading partner. Even if the reciprocal country
does not lower its tariffs we can still benefit.
1999 Ron Paul 82:3 Open and free trade with all nations, short
of war, should be pursued for two specific reasons.
One, it’s a freedom issue; the right of
the citizens of a free country to spend their
money any way they see fit, anywhere in the
world. And two, free trade provides the best
deal for consumers allowing each to cast dollar
votes with each purchase respecting quality
and price. The foreign competition is a
blessing in that it challenges domestic industries
to do better. The Japanese car industry
certainly resulted in American car manufacturers
offering more competitive products.
1999 Ron Paul 82:4 In setting trade policy we must not assume
that it is our job to solve any internal political
problems of our trading partners any more
than it is their responsibility to deal with our internal
shortcomings.
1999 Ron Paul 82:5 Our biggest problem here in the Congress is
that we seemingly never have a chance to
vote for genuine free trade. The choice is almost
always between managed-plus-subsidized
trade or sanctions-plus-protectionism.
Our careless use of language (most likely deliberate)
is deceitful.
1999 Ron Paul 82:6 Genuine free trade would involve low tariffs
and no subsidies. Export-Import Bank funding,
OPIC, and trade development subsidies to our
foreign competitors would never exist. Trading
with China should be permissible, but aid
should never occur either directly or through
multilateral banking organizations such as the
IMF or World Bank. A true free trade policy
would exclude the management of trade by
international agencies such as the WTO and
NAFTA. Unfortunately, these agencies are
used too frequently to officially place restrictions
on countries or firms that sell products
“too cheaply” — a benefit to consumers but
challenging to politically-favored domestic or
established “competitors.” This is nothing
more than worldwide managed trade (regulatory
cartels) and will eventually lead to a
trade war despite all the grandiose talk of free
trade.
1999 Ron Paul 82:7 Trade policy should never be mixed with the
issue of domestic political problems. Dictatorial
governments trading with freer nations are
more likely to respect civil liberties if they are
trading with them. Also, it is true that nations
that trade are less likely to go to war with one
another.
1999 Ron Paul 82:8 If all trade subsidies are eliminated, there is
less temptation on our part to impose conditions
on others receiving our grants and loans.
1999 Ron Paul 82:9 Before we assume that we can improve the
political liberties of foreign citizens, we must
meet the responsibility of protecting all civil liberties
of our own citizens irrespective of
whether it is guaranteeing first and second
amendment protections or guaranteeing the
balance of power between the states and the
federal government as required by the ninth
and tenth amendments.
1999 Ron Paul 82:10 Every argument today for trading with China
is an argument for removing all sanctions with
all nations including Cuba, Libya, Iran and
Iraq. None of these nations come close to
being a threat to our national sovereignty. If
trade with China is to help us commercially
and help the cause of peace, so too would
trade with all countries.
1999 Ron Paul 82:11 I look forward to the day that our trade debate
may advance from the rhetoric of managed
trade versus protectionism to that of true
free trade, without subsidies or WTO-like management;
or better yet, free trade with an
internationally accepted monetary unit recognizing
the fallacy of mismanaged fiat currencies.
Note:
1999 Ron Paul 82:1
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Here, Ron Paul thanks The Honorable Philip M. Crane of Illinois.
1999 Ron Paul 82:6
politically-favored probably should be unhyphenated: politically favored.
1999 Ron Paul 82:9
first and second amendment protections probably should be hyphenated and capitalized:
First- and Second-Amendment protections.
1999 Ron Paul 82:9
ninth and tenth amendments probably should be capitlaized: Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
