2006 CT Senate Debate: on Free Trade


Joseph Lieberman: Connecticut jobs rely on exports

LIEBERMAN: Ned’s come out against trade now. He was always for it before. Connecticut benefits from trade. Not everybody does, some people suffer, and we need to help them with trade adjustment assistance. But we do $9 billion worth of exporting from Connecticut every year. That creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. One quarter of the manufacturing jobs in Connecticut depend on exports. If he thinks he can put a bubble over the US and stop all of that and make more jobs in Connecticut, he’s wrong.

LAMONT: Senator, we just keep exporting jobs. Over the last 18 years, we have lost 40% of our manufacturing jobs and a lot of our defense-related jobs. Going forward, [we should] invest in infrastructure. That’s public transportation. That’s freight. That’s ports. These are all things necessary to be able to build a base upon which small businesses can grow. We have been losing good-paying jobs in the state, and if Ned Lamont is a US senator, we can turn that around with a long-term strategy.

Source: 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate Primary debate Jul 6, 2006

Ned Lamont: Lieberman never saw a trade agreement he didn’t like

In the last 18 years [of Lieberman’s 3 terms], we have lost 40% of our manufacturing-related jobs. We have lost over half of our defense-related jobs. People are earning less. A lot of our good paying jobs are leaving the state and leaving the country. Senator Lieberman has never seen a trade agreement that he didn’t applaud. I don’t think this is the type of leadership we want. When it comes to bringing home things for the state of Connecticut, we are 49th out of 50 states.
Source: 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate Primary debate Jul 6, 2006

Ned Lamont: Negotiate strong labor & enviro into trade agreements

We are the largest market on the face of this earth. People want to do business with the United States of America. And we should negotiate these trade agreements from the position of strength. Labor agreements, environmental standards, these should be key to what we want to do. We owe it to our workers to give them a level playing field and let them compete around the world. Our workers can compete with anybody. They can compete with anybody if given a fair shot.
Source: 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate Primary debate Jul 6, 2006

  • The above quotations are from 2006 Connecticut Democratic Senate Primary debate, July 2006.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Free Trade.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Ned Lamont on Free Trade.
  • Click here for more quotes by Joseph Lieberman on Free Trade.
Candidates and political leaders on Free Trade:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018