Congressman Pete Visclosky today expressed his outrage that as American jobs continue to be shipped overseas, President Bush and the Republican controlled Congress are pushing trade policies that put American workers at a competitive disadvantage.  Visclosky cited the free trade agreement with the country of Oman, which is expected to pass in the House later today, as the latest in a long series of trade policies that benefit other countries more than American workers.

“Our existing trade agreements have caused good-paying American jobs to be shipped overseas. Instead of fighting for American workers, this administration is working to expand the reckless policies that put good-paying American jobs at risk,” said Congressman Visclosky. “Time and time again, these free trade agreements have proven to be unfair to the American worker.”

Visclosky, who has pushed for strong and fair trade laws, believes that trade can lead to economic growth, but the Oman Free Trade Agreement would fail to comply with basic International Labor Organization (ILO) standards such as: 1) the lack of existence of real labor unions and 2) the lack of laws that prohibit employers from confiscating foreign workers’ documents, which enables human trafficking and forced labor conditions.

Further, Visclosky points out that our trade agreements have led to a skyrocketing trade deficit that is on track to climb to $815 billion in 2006 – exceeding 2005’s record-breaking deficit with the U.S. importing $2 billion more in goods and services everyday than what is exported.

“This trade agreement is another step in the race toward the bottom,” said Visclosky. “It makes Americans compete unfairly with exploited foreign labor, and it will continue to allow our jobs to be sent overseas.”