Devastating Harm Caused By Trump Administration

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Kaptur for yielding time.

Across the central and south coast of Oregon, where I represent, we have seen the real consequences of the Trump administration's reckless tariff policies. These aren't just bad economic choices. They have created ripple effects that hurt working families up and down the supply chains.

Mr. Speaker, 99.4 percent of businesses in Oregon are small businesses. These are small businesses and manufacturers who utilize parts from all over the world.

Rising costs due to the erratic tariff policy of this administration are increasing their costs, which means that they have to increase their costs to consumers. That means that we are losing market share here and abroad.

We also have our world-class winegrowers, and they are facing fallout from the tariffs against some of our closest allies such as Canada, which alone makes up nearly half of Oregon wine's export market. Overnight, those sales went away.

The impact doesn't stop at the vineyard gate. It hurts the farmhands tending the fields, the bottlers, the distributors, the small retailers, and the restaurants that proudly serve Oregon wine.

Some of our manufacturers are also closing up shop and moving offshore to avoid the tariff uncertainty, so the pain spreads to our machinists and our welders and also to the parts makers, the shippers, and the communities counting on those paychecks. That is because people in my District earn their money by the hour, not off of stock dividends.

The through line is clear. These policies have created uncertainty at every level of our economy. They don't just take away jobs. They destabilize the entire supply chain and the communities behind it.

Oregon workers and businesses deserve better. They deserve policies that strengthen industries instead of pulling the rug out from under them. They deserve to know that Congress is standing with the workers to keep our communities running.

Today is the day that we remember the Constitution. The Constitution has directed that Congress should be the ones determining tariffs. It is Congress. The majority has handed away our constitutionally given duty to an administration that is now hurting jobs in my district and across this country.

I am proud to stand with the Congressional Labor Caucus tonight to make sure their voices are heard and to fight for an economy where every worker, from the mill floor to the vineyard to the factory line, has the security and the respect that they have earned.

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