Republicans ignore the needs of workers

Last Thursday, House Republicans stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and launched a concerted attempt to discredit Sen. John Kerry's war record. Putting aside the question of whether this was an effective, ethical or even legal use of government resources, it is what the Republicans have not done with their control of the congressional schedule that is the real outrage.
They failed to extend unemployment insurance for the 320,000 Ohians out of work, more than 50,000 of whom have exhausted or will exhaust their unemployment insurance this summer.
Tax code
Republicans failed to pass the Crane-Rangel bill, a bipartisan measure that would reform the tax code to reward companies that produce in America and employ U.S. workers.
Republicans failed to stop corporations such as Tyco from reincorporating overseas to avoid paying taxes.
It failed to bar corporations like Halliburton who do business with countries that harbor terrorism from enjoying no-bid government contracts.
Instead of working to replace the 170,000 manufacturing jobs Ohio has lost in the last three years, President Bush is pushing Congress to sign the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the dysfunctional cousin of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which has been hemorrhaging American jobs overseas for 10 years.
Struggling families
House Republicans will fail American workers this summer if they pass CAFTA as promised. If we want our nation to be strong, we must reward companies that keep jobs in America, we must create new good-paying jobs for American workers and we must provide benefits to struggling families falling victim to unfair trade policies and shameful corporate practices.
If House Republicans were as focused on the needs of working families as they are campaigning for the president, we might be closer to achieving these goals.
X Sherrod Brown is a Democratic congressman from Ohio's 13h District.