House Members Meet with Obama on a New Way Forward on Korea FTA
Thursday, November 18 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, as Chairman of the House Trade Working Group, Congressman Mike Michaud (ME-02) brought together fellow members of the group for a meeting that he worked to organize at the White House with President Obama on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Michaud and his colleagues pushed for changes that they’d like to see in the FTA, which include: protecting workers’ rights and reducing off-shoring through the clarification and enforcement of labor standards; promoting U.S. manufacturing through reciprocity, targeted tariff reduction and increased export opportunities for small and medium manufactures; and providing U.S. economic sustainability through trade deficit reduction, financial crisis prevention and consumption-production balance.

Michaud’s statement following the meeting today can be found below:

“I appreciated the discussion we had with the President.  As millworker for nearly 30 years in Maine, this is an issue that hits close to home and which effects I’ve seen firsthand.

“During our meeting, we told the President that we believe the agreement as it exists now has several fundamental problems that go beyond the issues with beef and autos.  Because of these fundamental problems, the agreement will not help to fix the U.S. economy, which voters just signaled is their number one priority.

“We also delivered to the President the same message we all hear back home: the American people do not support more of the same.  They want Congress and this Administration to work together to fix our flawed policies.

“And while I remain concerned about this agreement, I believe there is a viable, alternative way forward on trade.  U.S. trade policy has not changed in the last sixteen years, but it has changed our districts, and not for the better.  That’s why making some improvements to the agreement and future ones to limit off-shoring of jobs and promote U.S. manufacturing would be a good step forward.  And making these changes would do nothing to derail the U.S. trade agenda as some have tried to claim.

“We went to the White House to begin a genuine dialogue because there are trade agreements that many of us could support.  We wanted this conversation to be one that gets away from the same old talking points and I think we’re off to a good start.”

Joining Michaud today at this afternoon’s meeting at the White House were Linda Sanchez (CA-39), Louise Slaughter (NY-28), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Betty Sutton (OH-13), Gene Green (TX-29), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Bruce Braley (IA-01), and Peter DeFazio (OR-04).

# # #