January 28, 2000

Press Release | Contact: Kathie Eastman (202) 225-6416


WASHINGTON, DC—Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) had this to say in response to President Clinton's State of the Union address:

"The President was right on the money when he said we need to pay off our debts before we start giving out tax breaks. I applaud his call to reserve the money saved by paying off this crushing debt load for preserving Social Security. Our country now owes more than $5.6 trillion dollars and that figure is growing fast. The interest payment on this debt will exceed $200 billion this year alone. It's time to relieve future generations of this burden.

"Beyond that, I'm pleased to hear he wants to invest in America's children through increased funding for Head Start, a key element of my Youth Violence Prevention Package, and I'm encouraged by his emphasis on education -- particularly his push to reduce class sizes and rebuild crumbling public schools. And his proposals on after-school and summer school programs will help keep kids off the street and out of trouble. Last year, several teens from Oregon came to a youth conference in Washington, D.C. and identified this issue as a key component in combating youth violence.

"All this stands in stark contrast to his continued fixation on granting permanent "Most Favored Nation" trade status for China and his embrace of the World Trade Organization's agenda. Our trade policy has been a loser for workers in the U.S. and overseas. In his speech the President touted the prospects of a new century but offered the same old failed trade policy that has led to a $300 billion trade deficit. It's time for a new course on trade.

"I also find it very hard to believe that we can implement all of the President's new programs while spending billions of dollars on gold plated weapons systems and fantasies like Star Wars development while maintaining fiscal discipline.

"The Cold War is over and Americans are still waiting for their peace dividend. Instead, we are locked into a perpetual arms race with ourselves that continues to divert resources from important domestic priorities like education, health care and retirement security. I doubt we can afford to do both.

"I'm looking forward to working with the President in his last year in office on his effort to preserve Social Security, his initiatives in education and programs to prevent youth violence as well as raise the minimum wage. But I will be forced to oppose his attempts to perpetuate a failed trade policy that has brought America a twenty year string of huge trade deficits, a degraded environment and depressed wages for workers in the U.S. and the rest of the world."

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