Speech #1030061302

Trade Representative has already said the average wage rate for those in the manufacturing industries in Mexico is $2.35 an hour. If we really believe this market. we are going to see wage rates improve on both sides. How does NAFTA offer a longterm immigration solution? Quite frankly NAFTA will indisputably contribute to economic growth in Mexico. NAFTA will increase both wage rates and employment in Mexico. By helping the Mexican economy grow. NAFTA is crucial to the only realistic longterm solution to the illegal immigration problem. Opponents of NAFTA cannot logically criticize at the same time immigration and the sucking of Jobs south: if those millions of Jobs did move. then immigration from Mexico would evaporate because all the jobs would be there. Finally. the most important question that we need to ask is: Will defeating NAFTA solve the Mexican immigration problem or the economic challenges that we face both here at home and in Mexico? The answer is a resounding no. Defeating NAFTA will worsen illegal immigration by setting back the pace of Mexican economic development. Defeat of NAFTA will not solve any problems. including illegal immigration. American plant closings. environmental distress. or drug use. Just as many other problems that NAFTA opponents decry. illegal immigration can only worsen without NAFTA. Madam Speaker. it seems to me as we look at every single one of these items. we have to ask that question again: is the status quo going to improve the environmental quality in Mexico or at the border? Is the status quo going to ensure that we will not see this flow of illegal immigrants come across the border? Is the status quo going to end the shift of jobs and businesses from the United States to Mexico. businesses which today have to move to Mexico if they want to take advantage of the 88 million consumers who are there? The answer is a resounding no.