Trade

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, most people who are following this debate may be a little bit put off by some of the initials that we use around here--TPP, TPA, TAA. What is it all about?

It is about a trade agreement. It involves a dozen countries, including the United States. Most of them are in Asia. We are preparing to discuss and debate it, and that trade agreement is known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. I think that is what that stands for. I will correct the record if I am wrong on that.

But before we get to the trade agreement, we have to decide how we are going to consider it, and that is known as TPA, trade promotion authority, or fast track. The question is whether the Senate will agree that we cannot amend the trade agreement--no amendments--and that it is a simple majority vote. That is what is known as fast track. Virtually every President in modern time has had that authority. It has expired, and now it has to be recreated by a vote on the floor.

What we are anticipating this afternoon is whether we go to the arguments about these various issues, and the uncertainty is what leads my friend from Utah, Senator Hatch, to come to the floor.

The uncertainty from our side is this: How are we going to consider this? Four bills came out of the Finance Committee related to trade. How are they going to be brought to the floor? Are they going to be part of one package? Are they separate votes? Which one will come out of the Senate? Will more than one come out of the Senate? These are unanswered questions, and because these questions are unanswered, the vote at 2:30 or so is in doubt.

Senator Hatch is upset. He believed that there was an agreement. I wasn't a party to it. I don't know. But this much I do know: Trade is a controversial issue. It is important to America's economy. But when you take it home and meet with the people you represent, there are strong mixed feelings about trade.

Some who work for the Caterpillar tractor company in Illinois want to promote trade, sell more of those big yellow tractors, and put more Americans to work to build them.

But many look at trade and say: I could be a casualty. I could be a victim. They could ship my job overseas, Senator. So what are you going to do to make sure I am protected in this?

That is why trade isn't an easy issue. It is a controversial issue.

TAA, which Senator Hatch referred to, is trade adjustment assistance. What it says is that if you lost your job because of a trade agreement, we will help pay for your training for a new job. Senator Hatch said he opposed that. I fully support it.

I just visited a high school in downstate Illinois. There was a man there teaching high school students--good, gifted high school students--how to repair computers. I said: How did you get into this business? He said: It is a funny thing. I lost my job in a factory years ago because of a trade agreement. But because of trade adjustment assistance, I was able to go back to college, got a degree, and now I am a teacher.

Do I support trade adjustment assistance? You bet I do--for that teacher and for many others who want to transition into a new job if they lose their job because of trade. So including trade adjustment assistance in any part of a trade agreement is important to many of us. We want to make sure it is included on the floor of the Senate.

Equally so, we want to make sure that trade agreements are enforceable. It wasn't that long ago that we had thriving steel production companies in America that were victimized by many foreign countries that started dumping steel in the United States.

What does it mean to dump steel? These countries--Brazil, Japan, and Russia--were selling steel in the United States at prices lower than the cost of production. Why? They knew they could run the Americans out of business--and they did.

By the time we filed an unfair trade grievance, went through the hearings and won our case, the American companies disappeared. Enforcement is an important part of any conversation about trade. We want to know from Senator Hatch and the Republicans who bring this to the floor, if we are going to enforce the trade agreements so Americans are treated fairly.

I think that is a pretty legitimate question. Until it is answered, there is uncertainty. Maybe the vote at 2:30 will reflect it. I hope we can get an answer before 2:30, but if not, then soon after, on how Senator McConnell wants to bring this issue to the floor.

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