Congratulating Turkey for Hosting the Annual G20 Leaders Summit in Antalya, November 15-16, 2015

Floor Speech

Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the Republic of Turkey for hosting the successful annual G20 Leader's Summit in Antalya, November 15-16, 2015.

While Syria and the fight against terrorists was already on the agenda, the Paris terrorist attacks by ISIS ensured that these issues remained in the forefront. Ultimately, the G20 countries issued a strong statement condemning the heinous terrorist attacks, uniting to combat them, remain committed to fighting the financial tools used, and supporting a comprehensive approach to one of the international community's greatest challenges in this century.

The G20 was established on September 26, 1999 when the Finance Ministers of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) came together after the Asian financial crisis. The inaugural meeting was held in Berlin in December 1999.

The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. The economies of the countries combined account for 85% of the global economic output, 80% of world trade, and 65% of the world's population.

When the group met for the first time in Washington, DC represented by world leaders in 2008, they discussed ways to respond collectively to the 2008-09 crisis to restore growth, strengthen the global financial system, and reform international financial institutions.

Turkey officially took over the presidency of the G20 from Australia in December 1, 2014 and China will preside over the organization in 2016.

The other three key objectives of the 2015 G20 Leader's Summit in Antalya were strengthening the global recovery, enhancing resilience, and buttressing sustainability.

Turkey's growing economy is significant because Turkey's companies are expanding and trading with not only traditional markets such as neighboring countries or the European Union, but Turkish firms are also increasingly looking to invest in the United States, including Indian country.

I am proud to have sponsored legislation which facilitated the investment from not only Turkey, but all WTO countries in native lands.

As a member of Congress who has long championed US-Turkish relations and economic integration, I congratulate Turkey on hosting this important summit at a challenging time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source