For Immediate Release:
Friday, June 24, 2005

WASHINGTON D.C - As early as July, Congress could vote on the controversial Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).  For the past several months, I have listened carefully to the debate and weighed arguments on both sides of the issue. 

 

I have always been a strong proponent of free and fair trade, but remain concerned about how CAFTA will affect Eastern Oklahoma and our rural towns that have built their economies around local manufacturing industries. 

 

CAFTA would build on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by expanding trade to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.  The agreement is driven by corporate interests who would see higher profits by moving production jobs to low-wage nations in Central America.

 

Who doesn’t stand to profit from CAFTA are the countless communities across rural America who are reeling from the economic impact of NAFTA.  Like me, they are understandably worried that CAFTA will trigger another flood of imports and another hemorrhage of industrial jobs.  At a time when our local economies are disappearing and main streets are shrinking, the prospect of further job losses must be averted.         

 

Supporters of NAFTA predicted that it would lead to a net gain of 170,000 new U.S. jobs.  It turns out that NAFTA has led to a net loss of 880,000 jobs as multinational businesses abandoned U.S. manufacturing for cheaper labor in Mexico. 

 

In Eastern Oklahoma, we watched its affects as our neighbors lost jobs to what we euphemistically call “outsourcing.”  Over the last five years, the Sooner State has suffered a net loss of over 33,000 jobs, with as much as 8,476 attributable to NAFTA.   

 

Speckled across the map, countless Oklahoma towns have been affected – towns like Seminole, Prague, Bristow, Ada, Okemah, and Muskogee to name a few.  When the Kwikset plant shut down in Bristow, more than 1,000 jobs were moved to Mexico.  Seminole lost 700 jobs when Wrangler closed and relocated its manufacturing abroad.  The list goes on and on.    

 

The number of jobs lost however, is not quite as significant as the type of jobs being lost - family wage jobs with health insurance and benefits.  At the Wrangler plant in Seminole, the average wage was $10.40, a sustainable wage for an average family living in Oklahoma. 

 

Many of these jobs were not replaced, and those that were, were replaced by retail and service industry jobs with lower wages and fewer benefits.  The substitution of low-wage for higher-wage jobs is one of the leading factors in the decline of the middle class standard of living. 

 

In our new global economy, we must embrace free trade to meet our new economic challenges, but we cannot afford to sacrifice Oklahoma jobs at the altar of false hopes. We need balanced trade policies that grow our economy, raise worker standards in new trade zones, and open up markets for American products.  Each new proposal should be judged on a case by case basis, and benefit workers and consumers alike.    

 

Trade deals always create winners and losers. While I have little doubt that CAFTA would benefit some places in America, rural Oklahoma cannot be left holding the bag.  In Oklahoma, we must build on our manufacturing base – not erode it.  Unfortunately, CAFTA leaves us asking a very important question, “Does Eastern Oklahoma need another NAFTA?” 

 

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