Going Against the Grain to Keep a Promise

Going against the grain to keep a promise

It is hard to imagine 10 years is not quite long enough to learn a lesson. It would seem that a decade of experience, after the birth of North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), would serve as notice that a set of policies and initiatives are flawed and not worth repeating.

Not so when it comes to the federal government and the continued willingness to negotiate and implement one free trade agreement after another.

This past week, the Bush administration saw yet another agreement march through the House of Representatives and receive overwhelming support from lawmakers - support that is, except from one.

As he has done with previous agreements, Congressman Mike Rogers has gone against the wishes of his own party and its leadership and voted no against such pieces of legislation.

It is rare to see a freshman congressman, especially one running for re-election, to take a stand such as this against his own party - the same party which controls Capitol Hill and the White House.

This is not to say that Mike is turning his back on his fellow Republicans, but instead doing something not often seen from those at the federal level - doing what they promised to do while campaigning.

During his run for the Third Congressional District in 2002, Rogers made mention of the perils of free trade agreements and the damage it has done to Alabama's apparel and textile industries. We have only to look at the job losses at Avondale Mills and Russell Corporation to see examples of what poorly conceived trade agreements can do.

Last week, Mike sent comments to President Bush saying he was "disappointed" that the administration and the House had chosen to support the Morocco Trade Agreement - a bill he says will further weaken our country to compete against textile producers in China and other areas of the world.

"Congress should be trying to level the playing field, not give it away," Rogers said in the statement. True.

In the fall of last year, a trade agreement with Central America was negotiated but thanks to the efforts of Rogers and other lawmakers from textile areas such as ours, the bill has not gone to a vote and according to some, will not go up for a vote in its present form.

We have only to look at ourselves to see that free trade agreements, such as NAFTA, have worked against the American textile and apparel worker. Those jobs are now moving oversees.

True, the agreements have made it easier for foreign companies to open plans here in the United States, but in our area, the job losses remain on the wrong side of the ledger.

We applaud Mike's efforts in going against the grain and saying "no" to unfair trade agreements and encourage other lawmakers from Alabama and Southern textile areas to follow his example.

A decade of lessons should be put to use at some point and Rogers' efforts are a glimmer of hope those lessons will at some point prove useful.