United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in support of the three trade agreements that are pending before us and in support of the Trade Adjustment Assistance for our working men and women in this country.

There is no doubt, as so many of my colleagues have observed, that globalization of the marketplace and the growth of competitors from around the world has put a real stress on America and on American workers. As one of those who has fought very hard to have this floor consider legislation to facilitate making it in America, making sure that American workers are making American goods and selling them here and around the world, it seems to me that, in that process, what we need to do is bring down barriers to exports around the world. I perceive these three agreements accomplishing that objective.

I want to congratulate my dear friend, SANDY LEVIN, as well as the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Camp, for working hard on all of these agreements. I particularly want to congratulate Mr. Levin, who has given such careful consideration and care to the development of agreements that he feels he can support. He is supporting Korea and Panama, as am I. He has concluded that the protections in Colombia are not yet sufficient to protect workers that we all want to protect. I share his concern there. I have transmitted that to the administration, as has Mr. Levin.

I would like to read a portion of the submittal correspondence from the President of the United States referencing Colombia. The agreement contains state-of-the-art provisions to help protect and enforce intellectual property rights, reduce regulatory red tape, and eliminate regulatory barriers to U.S. exports.

The agreement also contains the highest standard for protecting labor rights, carrying out covered environmental agreements, and ensuring that key domestic labor and environmental laws are enforced, combined with strong remedies for noncompliance.

Colombia has already made significant reforms related to the obligations it will have under the labor chapter. A number of these steps have been taken in fulfillment of the commitments Colombia made in the agreed action plan.

I want to again say that Mr. Levin has visited Colombia, spent time there and overseen the action plan and its implementation.

But then the important sentence for me and I hope for others is, Colombia must successfully implement key elements of the action plan before I will bring the agreement into force.

There is a bipartisan consensus, Madam Speaker, in favor of reducing trade barriers. Those who support expanded trade do so because we believe American companies can compete globally and export more of what our workers make right here in America.

At the same time, though, trade agreements bring changes which may cause and do cause some workers to lose their jobs. That is why President Kennedy, in 1962, introduced a Trade Adjustment Assistance program to mitigate the negative effects of changes in trade policy. Under this program, the government provides job retraining, relocation allowances, and income assistance for those whose jobs are affected by international trade.

For companies that lose business, the Federal Government lends a hand with guidance and financial assistance to help develop recovery plans. President Kennedy called it: ``A program to afford time for American initiative, American adaptability, and American resilience to assert themselves.'' I believe these agreements give us that continuing opportunity, but we must protect our workers in the process.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Camp, may I have a minute?

Mr. CAMP. How much time do I have?

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp) has 28 minutes remaining.

Mr. CAMP. I yield the gentleman 1 minute.

Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend for yielding.

As we engage in measures designed to strengthen exports, at the same time Congress must continue to provide assistance to those whose jobs may be lost in the process. We need to do whatever we can to help get our people back to work and safeguard American jobs.

I urge a vote in favor of the trade adjustment assistance. That will be the last item we will consider. And I indicate my support of all three of the agreements.

In May of '07, we made definite progress with Mr. Levin's leadership and the leadership in a bipartisan way of saying workers' rights were going to be recognized in these agreements. In my view, that is the case in these three agreements. Are they perfect? I think no agreement is ever perfect. But do they move us in a position where the United States will be better able to make it in America and sell it abroad? I think they do; and, therefore, I will support these agreements.

I thank the gentleman for yielding me the additional minute.

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