Fair Trade

Senator Sherrod Brown’s Maiden Speech in the Senate

The new Senator from Ohio, Sherrod Brown, gave his maiden speech on the Senate floor last Thursday. I was working away at my computer, with CSPAN on low in the background, when I heard the following words (which actually turn out to be a quote of John Paul II) “We judge any economic system by what it does for and to ordinary people and by how it permits all to participate in it. The economy should serve the people, not the other way around.” This got my attention, so I turned away from my keyboard, turned up the volume, and listened to one of the most inspiring speeches that I have heard given on the floor of the Senate recently. It is indeed encouraging to see another strong leader emerging in the Senate who is passionate about fair trade, and is willing to speak out about his views publicly and emphatically, even as a junior member, just weeks after his confirmation. Well done Senator Brown!

I had trouble finding Sen Brown’s official site, but in the process of trying to figure out where his most current site was located, I came across this excellent reference site, GovTrack.us. This site provides a really nice interface into Thomas and many other US government sites. You can easily search for, and quickly find items like Senator Brown’s speech below. An added bonus is that the visual presentation is much more accessible than that of Thomas. Take a look, you will like it!

You can access Senator Sherrod Brown’s page on this site by clicking on this link.

Senator Brown’s remarks to the US Senate on Jan 25, 2007 regarding the FAIR MINIMUM WAGE ACT OF 2007 began in the following way: (click on the preceding link to see the entire speech)

Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]:

Mr. President, I grew up in Mansfield, OH, a small, blue-collar city in the middle of America, a town of famous names–junior highs named after U.S. Secretary of State John Sherman and the legendary Johnny Appleseed; factories called Westinghouse and Tappan Stove and Fisher Body. Like many of our country’s greatest cities and our Nation’s most comfortable small towns, Mansfield has a Park Avenue and a Main Street, a Central Park and a town square, a Carnegie Library and a corner drugstore.

In those days, people who worked hard, who paid their taxes, who played by the rules just about always had something to show for it. Almost everyone–virtually almost everyone–in my hometown believed that their children would enjoy a better life than they did. The more productive they were–insurance salesmen and factory worker, clerk and farmer–the better off they would be. The harder they worked, the more opportunity for their children. The middle class and all that it meant was much closer to them and for them than a distant aspiration.

One-third of this body, 32 of my colleagues, came off the campaign trail victorious last November. Ten of us joined the Senate earlier this month. We are here for a reason. We are here because for too long Government betrayed the middle class.

In recent years, Ohioans have watched the drug companies write the Medicare law, the oil industry dictate our Nation’s energy policy, the insurance companies shape our health care. And perhaps worst of all, many of our largest corporations, untethered to any community, have forced through a willing and compliant Congress job-killing trade agreements which outsource our jobs, divide our families, and hurt our communities.

We are here because Ohioans and people across our land understand the words of Pope John Paul II:

We judge any economic system by what it does for and to ordinary people and by how it permits all to participate in it. The economy should serve the people, not the other way around.

We are here because we have heard from people who have worked hard and played by the rules all their lives, yet have so little to show for it. I met a man at the free clinic in Youngstown who had all but given up because of his diabetes. He came to the free clinic, his blue eyes tearing up, because his daughter insisted, he told me, that she simply wanted him to live. The number of free clinics in Ohio–a rich State in a rich country, a State known for some of the best medical facilities in the world–has doubled in the last decade. In rural Appalachia, the small community of Lottridge in Athens County is suffering from such staggering job loss that the local food bank now serves more than 200 local families. And to maintain their sense of community pride and togetherness, the food bank workers put up curtains and decorations to resemble a general store, not a place of charity. Read more >>

The Senator gave another speech on Jan 30, and another one today. The second two speechs are as inspiring as the first, and can be accessed at Senator Sherrod Brown’s Senate speeches.

© 2007 Life is an Ongoing Process.