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Bush Urges Congress on Several Issues
CRAWFORD, Texas - Bending the ears of lawmakers and their constituents, President Bush used his weekly radio address Saturday to ask Congress to set aside partisan differences and act on energy, trade and spending issues and fix Social Security.
Bush said that by Congress' August recess he wants an energy bill on his desk that will reduce the nation's dependence on foreign sources of oil.
He also urged lawmakers to exercise spending restraint. "The House and the Senate have worked together to pass a responsible budget resolution that keeps us on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009," he said. "Now, Congress must keep its promise to exercise restraint on spending bills and to rein in mandatory spending."
The president pushed Congress to change Social Security to ensure its future solvency. And he asked the House and Senate to ratify the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA.
"About 80 percent of products from Central America and the Dominican Republic now enter the United States duty-free," said Bush, who is flying to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday to discuss CAFTA with other Western Hemisphere leaders.
"Yet, American exports to those countries face hefty tariffs," he said. "CAFTA will level the playing field by making about 80 percent of American exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic duty-free."
Bush said the agreement will lower barriers in key sectors such as textiles, which he said will make U.S. manufacturers more competitive in the global market.
"CAFTA will make our neighborhood more secure by strengthening young democracies," he added. "CAFTA is a practical, pro-jobs piece of legislation. And Congress needs to pass it soon."
Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D., argued in the Democrats' radio response that Bush and his congressional allies aren't interested in resolving differences. "They demand that it all be done their way," he said. "But, of course, that is not the way a democracy works."
Dorgan also said the administration needs to be doing more to address a different set of issues, such as American jobs moving overseas, rising health care costs, federal budget deficits and high gasoline prices.
More jobs will be lost and the trade deficit will only widen if CAFTA is approved, Dorgan said. He and other Democrats complain the agreement lacks labor and environmental protections to stop abuses of workers in poor, low-wage Central America.
Republican opponents come mainly from textile areas hit hard by foreign competition or areas connected to the sugar industry, which considers CAFTA a threat to its future.
"How many more American workers will lose their jobs to cheap foreign labor before we understand our current trade policy puts our standard of living in the U.S. in a race to the bottom?" Dorgan asked. "Why does the president oppose our effort to shut down tax breaks now given to these corporations that move American jobs overseas?"
CRAWFORD, Texas - Bending the ears of lawmakers and their constituents, President Bush used his weekly radio address Saturday to ask Congress to set aside partisan differences and act on energy, trade and spending issues and fix Social Security.
Bush said that by Congress' August recess he wants an energy bill on his desk that will reduce the nation's dependence on foreign sources of oil.
He also urged lawmakers to exercise spending restraint. "The House and the Senate have worked together to pass a responsible budget resolution that keeps us on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009," he said. "Now, Congress must keep its promise to exercise restraint on spending bills and to rein in mandatory spending."
The president pushed Congress to change Social Security to ensure its future solvency. And he asked the House and Senate to ratify the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA.
"About 80 percent of products from Central America and the Dominican Republic now enter the United States duty-free," said Bush, who is flying to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday to discuss CAFTA with other Western Hemisphere leaders.
"Yet, American exports to those countries face hefty tariffs," he said. "CAFTA will level the playing field by making about 80 percent of American exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic duty-free."
Bush said the agreement will lower barriers in key sectors such as textiles, which he said will make U.S. manufacturers more competitive in the global market.
"CAFTA will make our neighborhood more secure by strengthening young democracies," he added. "CAFTA is a practical, pro-jobs piece of legislation. And Congress needs to pass it soon."
Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D., argued in the Democrats' radio response that Bush and his congressional allies aren't interested in resolving differences. "They demand that it all be done their way," he said. "But, of course, that is not the way a democracy works."
Dorgan also said the administration needs to be doing more to address a different set of issues, such as American jobs moving overseas, rising health care costs, federal budget deficits and high gasoline prices.
More jobs will be lost and the trade deficit will only widen if CAFTA is approved, Dorgan said. He and other Democrats complain the agreement lacks labor and environmental protections to stop abuses of workers in poor, low-wage Central America.
Republican opponents come mainly from textile areas hit hard by foreign competition or areas connected to the sugar industry, which considers CAFTA a threat to its future.
"How many more American workers will lose their jobs to cheap foreign labor before we understand our current trade policy puts our standard of living in the U.S. in a race to the bottom?" Dorgan asked. "Why does the president oppose our effort to shut down tax breaks now given to these corporations that move American jobs overseas?"
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