Paul Receives High Rating for Pro-Trade Voting Record

FOR RELEASE: March 28, 2001

Washington, DC. Representative Ron Paul has been named a "Free Trader" by the Cato Institute, a Washington research group which tracks trade votes in Congress. Paul was among only 26 members of Congress who received the group's highest rating. "We examined 29 key trade votes in the 106th Congress, classifying legislators into categories according to their voting records," stated Cato's Daniel Griswold. "Congressman Paul was one of the few legislators who qualified as a free trader, meaning he consistently opposed both trade barriers and trade subsidies."

Paul is known as an outspoken advocate for open markets: "I always support true free trade, which means limiting government interference in the marketplace- not creating multinational bodies like the WTO to 'manage' trade," Paul stated. "American families should be able to buy goods from abroad without paying for costly tariffs imposed by their own government. Similarly, American businesses should be able to sell their products abroad, without the government closing certain markets through ineffective trade embargoes. I want farmers in my district to be able to sell their products to any nation, especially when commodity prices have been depressed at home."

Paul plans to continue his fight against trade subsidies and barriers. "Most Americans are unaware of the trade subsidies their tax dollars provide for huge companies. An example is the federal Export-Import Bank, which is nothing more than corporate welfare for certain politically favored U.S. companies. We need to differentiate between true free trade and government schemes which benefit vested business interests."