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Nafta Devastation

Floor Speech

Date: Nov. 30, 2021
Location: Washington, DC

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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, today President Biden hosted Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Lopez Obrador for the North American Leaders' Summit.

I urge them to address the continental challenges unleashed by NAFTA job losses in the U.S. and the rising illicit drug trade.

An often overlooked impact of NAFTA trade is the evisceration of Mexico's white corn market.

As Mexican farmers lost their livelihoods, many turned to planting poppy crops for income, which is now blended with Chinese fentanyl.

We know too NAFTA devastated our Industrial Heartland leading to massive job loss and a continuing surge of narcotics into the U.S.-- killing nearly a million people.

I urge the President and continental leaders to not ignore the harms of NAFTA on American workers, Mexican farmers, and communities ravaged by job losses and the opioid epidemic.

Let us chart a new path forward for continental trade--but not based on penny wage labor. The Americas need fair trade.

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