During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) spoke about President Trump's trade polices and tariffs.
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00:00Thank you. Mr. Speaker is co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force. I rise today to speak on behalf of our Great Lakes region. My part of it is the 9th District of Ohio that stretches all the way from Bryan, Ohio, all the way across the northern part of Ohio, through Toledo, all the way to Sandusky, and down to Fremont, Ohio, passing through places like Rossford, Perrysburg, Defiance, Ohio, and so many other beautiful
00:30places. Our hard-working families depend on the Great Lakes, not just for their livelihoods, but for our way of life. We are the largest fresh water body on the face of the earth, and we take the responsibility for tending that seriously. The Great Lakes form the beating heart of our regional economy. They support hundreds of thousands of jobs from the auto and steel industries,
00:59manufacturing to shipping, farming to fishing, and tourism to technology. Our freshwater coast is a national treasure, and it is also a global economic engine, the third largest economy in the world that we share with Canada. We work on this together. We have from the beginning.
01:21So the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or some people call it the GLRI, has been a bipartisan lifeline and a vital investment that has brought over $3.7 billion to our complex ecosystem to restore our wetlands, to clean up toxic waste and hot spots, and to protect our fresh drinking water. It's complex. Lots of industry, lots of agriculture, lots of people, and
01:51lots of fresh water. We must fully fund the GLRI. Every dollar brings back four to our economy, and that just makes common sense. Let me be clear to this new administration. Keep your hands off our lakes. We will not stand by while short-sighted proposals gut the programs that have protected our water, our health, and our jobs. I would urge the President, while you're in Michigan, go visit Flint, Michigan. Look at what we have to do to restore our
02:21enterprise and fresh water across our region. Mr. Speaker, currently, our Great Lakes economy is being choked by reckless tariffs and inside-out trade policies that hit us hard, including the district I represent in Northwest Ohio. It hits our pocketbooks, and it hits the balance sheets of thousands of companies. Take a drive through the port of Toledo. You'll see mountains of aluminum and steel stockpiled, stalled, waiting.
02:51Waiting for what? Our workers and small businesses are paying the price for a trade war that didn't need to start, and we certainly can't win as a joint economy. Our region, the Great Lakes region, we share with Canada.
03:06And what is all this commotion for? Tariffs on Canada, our friend, I underline that, an ally, mind you. The Trump tariffs have inflated costs across our industries, including auto manufacturing, crushing competitiveness in an industry that has long been the pride of northern Ohio, and for which we have struggled for 40 years to reinvest in.
03:33In Sandusky, in Perrysburg, in Warren, Michigan, in Windsor, Ontario, and across the industrial belt, plants are being squeezed or idled, shifts are being cut, and paychecks are being threatened. It doesn't stop there.
03:49Tariffs on Canadian lumber, potash, energy have disrupted supply chains. Our region relies on. It is our life beat. Construction costs are soaring.
03:59Eight percent for a mortgage. Who can afford that? Farmers can't access the nutrients they need, and they're in the planting mode right now.
04:09The tractors are going into the fields.
04:12As mortgage interest rates rise, we need Canadian lumber.
04:17The cost of housing is through the roof. Energy bills climb higher and higher.
04:20This is not economic patriotism. This isn't putting America first. It's self-inflicted damage.
04:28Somebody doesn't understand where these lakes exist. We share them with Canada.
04:34Trump tariffs on the U.S. and Canada put our workers not first. They put them last.
04:40And rising prices for consumers is hitting us hard across the board.
04:45Let's not forget tourism, one of our region's most vital and underestimated economic engines.
04:51Lake Erie supports billion dollars of recreational, boating, and sports fishing.
04:57Billions. A boating industry, second to none.
05:01We share it with Canada.
05:03Cedar Fair, with Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world, drawing millions, including from Canada,
05:08and they're boycotting our facilities right now.
05:12Tourism generates billions. Mr. President, please, while you're in Michigan,
05:16review how damaging your tariffs are to our Great Lakes Nation.
05:21Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back.