During Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) slammed President Trump’s tariff policy.
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00:00Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here this morning.
00:04Since the 1980s, the United States has faced a decline in manufacturing jobs that has left
00:10many workers feeling forgotten and turned away by many once-thriving communities into ghost towns.
00:17Democrats are united in wanting to bring more good, high-paying manufacturing jobs to these
00:22communities and making sure America is leading the way in strategically significant manufacturing
00:28sectors of the future. But President Trump's disaster tariff plan, which is estimated to
00:34increase costs to American households by $4,900 a year, is not the solution. During the Biden
00:42administration, the Democrats' Made in America agenda resulted in legislation like the Chips and
00:47Science Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Democrats drafted this legislation with
00:53Republicans in a bipartisan way and with the vital input of manufacturing workers, employers,
00:59and impacted communities. This legislation jump-started industry, helping to create more
01:04than 700,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States and secure over $1 trillion in planned
01:12investments. Our country has not seen this much new factory construction in half a century. This
01:18legislation and these investments created during the Biden administration should continue to pay off,
01:23creating over 200,000 more jobs each year going forward, assuming no new policies stifle that
01:29growth. There's still so much to do and to support in terms of domestic manufacturing and creating
01:35good-paying, safe, and affordable products here in America while protecting our environment. I'm here to
01:41work with anyone, regardless of political affiliation, to continue this work. But I'm also concerned that
01:46instead of advancing the progress we've made over the last several years, we're going to trend in the
01:52opposite direction due to Trump's irrational blanket tariff policy. While Democrats' legislative
01:57achievements in manufacturing have created, again, more than 700,000 manufacturing jobs,
02:03Trump's chaotic tariffs are expected to eliminate 770,000 jobs in 2025 alone. Tariffs are an important
02:12tool when used carefully and intelligently can help the American worker. But from slashing services at the
02:18VA to accidentally encouraging our air traffic controllers to resign and firing the essential
02:24workers that maintain our nuclear weapons stockpile, deporting American citizens, and discussing sensitive
02:30military operations on signal, careful and intelligent does not describe this administration. And that is the
02:36case with their tariff policy as well. Investors are pulling back from doing business in America, which
02:43impacts critical industries and prevents companies from actually starting new businesses to make goods
02:49here in the United States. Hardworking Americans are seeing a tanking stock market tank widespread firing
02:58and are concerned about what's to come. I've heard from countless Central Floridians in my community who have
03:04fears. David, an Orlando retiree, has lost 20% of his 401k in the last two months. Patricia, an Orlando resident,
03:12wrote in saying she cannot make improvements to her home with the recent instability of the economy.
03:17And Delia, who also wrote into our office, a Winter Park working person, said she won't be able to afford
03:22the tariff-driven increase on the cost of foods, housing, medicine, and other things as well.
03:30We know there's a better way. The laws we led created the stability that manufacturers need to create jobs,
03:37and we worked to make sure that they were jobs that Americans want and deserve, safe jobs that offer
03:43financial security and stability. Democrats increased both worker safety protections and worker safety
03:49inspections while making good wages a key component to the chips and science awards. The Democrat-led
03:56National Labor Relations Board cracked down on law-breaking corporations and fortified workers' right to
04:02organize. As we know, in 2023, President Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to ever walk a
04:07picket line when he marched with striking United Auto Worker members in Michigan.
04:13The president, Donald Trump, worked aggressively to put corporate profits over workers' rights during
04:18his last term, and he's doing it again. This is why we're going to see in the second term,
04:23just like having the first term, that wealth inequality in this country will continue to rise.
04:29For starters, he attacked the National Labor Relations Board and its mission of defending workers' rights,
04:33illegally fired the one Democratic board member, like in his first term, and he's stuffing the board with
04:40anti-worker people. Elon Musk even called the NLRB unconstitutional, while Trump has praised Musk for
04:47firing striking workers. The president is also looking at repealing sick leave, minimum wage, and overtime
04:53protections for some categories of workers. While making working conditions worse, he has also made it less
05:00safe. During his first term, Trump had the fewest OSHA safety inspectors ever, and he's already fired two-thirds
05:07of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Workforce since retaking office. His assault on
05:14workers' rights and safety does not stop at the factory gate, but it follows workers at home as well. And this is
05:20important, because we can't talk about bringing manufacturing jobs in this industry back to America without ensuring that
05:29we empower and protect the American worker. It's probably the most important part of this
05:37conversation, and Democrats are going to ensure that the American worker is front and center here. I look
05:43forward to working with my colleagues from both parties, as well as workers, labor representatives, private
05:48industry, to continue the manufacturing boom that was started by Democrats over the past four years. But this
05:54effort must never be at the expense of safety, dignity, and prosperity of the American worker.
05:59Thank you, AYIELD back.