New Murphy Ad Hits Fitzpatrick on Outsourcing
Former Congressman Fitzpatrick still refuses to recognize the impact of his tie-breaking vote to ship American jobs overseas
(Bristol, PA) – On Tuesday, Patrick Murphy rolled out his campaign’s second TV ad highlighting Mike Fitzpatrick’s disastrous record while in Congress of expanding NAFTA-style trade deals that shipped American jobs to Central America. The ad also hit Fitzpatrick for supporting efforts to keep in place tax loopholes that encouraged outsourcing while voting against training for American workers who saw their jobs shipped overseas to China and Central America.
In 2005, then-Congressman Fitzpatrick went back on promises he’d made to constituents to vote against outsourcing when the vote on CAFTA, a job-killing trade deal with Central America, came down to a tie. The Bush Administration needed his vote, so they called on Fitzpatrick to flip to a yes and he did, breaking the tie and jamming CAFTA through.
“Former Congressman Fitzpatrick voted for NAFTA-style trade deals that sent our jobs overseas to Central America and the Middle East, despite promises to vote no just hours earlier. Fitzpatrick broke his word and can’t be trusted to represent Bucks County,” said Tim Persico, Murphy’s campaign manager.
Fitzpatrick remains tone deaf to the concerns of Bucks County residents who want to see their representatives fight to protect American jobs for American workers. Just this summer, when asked if he regretted his vote for CAFTA, Fitzpatrick’s only response was to challenge the very idea that these bad trade deals had hurt real people in Bucks County. The ad introduced Fitzpatrick to Sue S., a Bristol woman who lost her job at Jones NY when the company outsourced much of their work in the wake of CAFTA.
The ad also holds Fitzpatrick accountable for wanting to preserve tax loopholes that encourage companies to outsource American jobs while at the same time voting no on a measure to provide job training for workers whose jobs were sent overseas because of bad trade deals.
Summing up Fitzpatrick’s tenure in Congress, the ad closes with: “Congressman Fitzpatrick took care of everyone….but you.”
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