The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“UNITED STATES TRADE DEFICIT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3421 on March 22, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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UNITED STATES TRADE DEFICIT
(Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the United States of America set a record last month or in January, a $16.3 billion merchandise trade deficit, not something to be proud of by our Commerce Department who measures that. That means we lost 244,000 American manufacturing jobs. The trade deficit was up 69 percent in January, the largest imbalance with Mexico in a decade, $863 million deficit with Mexico. Yes, NAFTA is working just great, thank you very much.
Japan, a $4.9 billion deficit, and China $2.7 billion, up 34 percent. The dollar has plunged to record lows.
We cannot go on piling deficit on deficit, month after month, year after year without bankrupting our economy. We bailed out Mexico when they could not pay their international bills. Who will bail us out and what conditions will they impose?
Our trade policy in this country is a failure, it is a disaster and the silence in Washington is deafening.
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