Sen. Grassley on Amendment to Appropriations Bill

Sen. Grassley on Amendment to Appropriations Bill

Today the Senate approved a key trade amendment from Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, with jurisdiction over international trade, and rejected an amendment from Sen. Byron Dorgan that would have hurt the United States' ability to open foreign markets to U.S. exports. The amendments were filed to the Commere, Justice, Science appropriations bill. Grassley made the following comment on these amendments.

"Today, the Senate reaffirmed its commitment to open markets and free and fair trade. By passage of my amendment by a vote of 99 to 0, the Senate confirmed its continued support for efforts to negotiate strong trade agreements that will open new markets for American goods and services while preserving our ability to utilize our trade remedy laws to defend against unfair trade competition. By a vote of 39 to 60, the Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Dorgan that would have taken U.S. trade remedy laws off the negotiating table. Such a result would have inevitably led to other nations' taking entire sectors off the negotiating table, thus cutting off our ability to use Trade Promotion Authority to eliminate market access barriers to U.S. goods and services. Today's votes demonstrate that the U.S. Senate remains committed to the principles articulated in the
Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002 and to continued U.S. leadership in world trade talks."

http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2005/prg091505b.pdf