Trade

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday Senator Warner, a Democrat, and Senator Ernst, a Republican, joined me in hosting a press conference with small business owners on the benefits of trade for entrepreneurs. I want to thank them both for coming. I thank Senator Warner, in particular, for helping to lead his party on this issue.

We were joined by small business owners with some pretty incredible stories. These Americans highlighted opportunities that knocking down unfair overseas barriers to American products can provide to us here at home.

My favorite, obviously, was Chase Robbins, a constituent of mine from Shelbyville. After Chase was medically discharged from the Army, he was able to scrape together $1,600 with a buddy and start the kind of business he had already dreamed of as early as 2010. It is a business that specializes in just the kind of thing you would expect a young guy such as Chase to be into--high-performance auto parts. And, thanks to trade, it is now both a business that exports a percentage of its products and one that also employs fellow Kentuckians.

His is a small business with just three employees for now--just three for now--but it is a small business that is allowing him to live his dreams and to help others live theirs, too. It is a story countless other Americans know all too well and one we should do everything to encourage. Yet, while Chase has achieved success thanks to trade, he knows there is still a lot more we should be doing if the aim is to help businesses grow, help his employees earn more, and help other Kentuckians live their dreams too.
Here is what Chase said yesterday:

As our business has grown internationally, we have been confronted with barriers that compromise global markets. It was not long after sending our first shipment overseas that we realized trade rules were outdated for our business. Most of the agreements and rules were written before small businesses like ours were able to fully utilize the internet to exploit the global market. Trade agreements offer the best chance to lower barriers and increase market access for small companies like mine. We see a bright future for ..... companies like ours in the export market but we need new trade deals to get there.

And this, Mr. President, is a business with three employees that is exporting products.

So here was Chase's solution: ``Trade Promotion Authority is the first step towards modernizing trade agreements,'' he said, ``and I encourage Congress to pass TPA as soon as possible.''

Entrepreneurs such as Chase know that the United States does not have many trade barriers, but other countries do. They know that many of these barriers are extremely unfair to American workers and American products. They know that passing trade promotion authority is the way to address such an unfair situation.

Our friends on the far left may try to cynically spin their war against the future of something other than what it truly is, but we all know better. It is no wonder President Obama has called them ``wrong'' and suggested that they make stuff up. What happens if the far left actually succeeds in its apparent quest to retain foreign tariffs that unfairly impact American workers and their paychecks? How is that good for us?

It would mean lost opportunities for American risk takers such as Chase and the employees who entrepreneurs such as him care about. It would mean lost opportunities for American manufacturers, lost opportunities for Kentucky farmers, and lost opportunities for more jobs, better wages, and a growing economy that can lift everyone up.

Jobs and a better economy are the kinds of things I am going to continue to fight for. I think the legislation before us represents a great opportunity to do so. President Obama agrees, as well. So I am going to keep working to get votes on amendments--both Republican and Democrat amendments.

There have been objections from the other side of the aisle. I would remind our colleagues that even with my strong support, the Senate cannot have a robust amendment process if every single amendment offered by Democrats or Republicans is objected to by our friends on the other side.

Our bill managers, Senator Hatch and Senator Wyden, are working hard. We hope to get past these objections so that more amendments can be considered. But we will need cooperation. The Senate cannot vote on amendments that are being prevented.

We hope to see more of that cooperation so we can pass good, fair, and enforceable trade legislation that will benefit our country and so many of the people we represent.

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