Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations The Right To Appeal Act -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, this week we are considering legislation that could have real importance for our country over the next several years on the economic front and also on the national security front. That legislation is trade promotion authority.

Trade promotion authority helps the United States negotiate strong trade deals that benefit American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers and expand opportunities for American workers. Under TPA, Congress sets guidelines for trade negotiations and outlines the priorities the administration must follow. In return, Congress promises a simple up-or-down vote on the resulting trade agreement, instead of a long amendment process that could leave the final deal looking nothing like what was originally negotiated.

The promise of that up-or-down vote sends a powerful message to our negotiating partners that Congress and U.S. trade negotiators are on the same page, which gives other countries the confidence they need to put their best offers on the table.

That, in turn, allows the United States to secure trade deals that are favorable to U.S. workers and to businesses and to open new markets to products that are marked ``Made in the U.S.A.'' Almost every one of the 14 trade agreements to which the United States is a party was negotiated using trade promotion authority. Currently, the administration is negotiating two major trade agreements that have the potential to vastly expand the market for American goods and services in the EU and in the Pacific.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being negotiated with a number of Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. If this agreement is done right, it will benefit a number of industries, including an industry that is very important to my State; that is, agriculture.

Currently, American agricultural products face heavy tariffs in many Trans-Pacific Partnership countries. Poultry tariffs, for example, in TPP countries go up to a staggering 240 percent. That is a tremendous obstacle for American producers. Reducing the barriers that American agricultural products face in these countries would have enormous benefits for American farmers and ranchers in my home State of South Dakota and across the country.

In fact, one pork producer in my State contacted me to tell me that a successful TPP deal could increase U.S. pork exports to just one of the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries by hundreds of millions of dollars. I know that is important in my State, important in the Presiding Officer's State, and important in every agricultural State across this Nation.

That is why former Agriculture Secretaries from both parties, representing every administration going back to President Carter, issued a joint letter in February emphasizing the importance of trade to farmers and ranchers and urging passage of trade promotion authority. They wrote in that letter:

Access to export markets is vital for increasing sales and supporting farm income at home. Opening markets helps farm families and their communities prosper.

It is not every day that you see former members of both Democratic and Republican administrations coming together to advocate a particular policy.

I would say that this is the free and fair trade for a healthy economy that describes precisely what it is that we are talking about. We are talking about more exports for American agricultural products, manufactured goods, digital goods--you name it, across the board. What that means is more jobs and higher take-home pay for American workers.

The bipartisan agreement isn't limited to former Agriculture Secretaries who have come out in support of it. Ten former Treasury Secretaries--again, representing administrations of both political parties--came together to draft their own letter, stressing the importance of trade promotion authority and securing favorable agreements for our country. They said:

Our support for open trade agreements is based on a simple premise. Expanding the size of the market where American goods and services can compete on a level playing field is good for American workers and their families. Expanded international trade means more American jobs and higher American incomes. It means greater access for American businesses to markets and consumers around the world, and it means lower prices for American families here at home.

That is from former Treasury Secretaries of this country representing both political parties.

Still another bipartisan group of former administration officials came together this month to urge support for trade promotion authority. This time it was seven former Secretaries of Defense, as well as a number of retired military leaders.

Their letter emphasizes another important aspect of trade that often gets overlooked in these discussions, and that is its national security implications. Discussions of the benefits of trade tend to focus on the economic benefits, of which there are many. So it is with good reason that we talk about the economy, jobs, and higher wages. But the new trade agreements have the potential to result not only in economic gains for American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers but in national security gains for our country.

When we make trade deals with other countries, we are not just opening new markets for our goods. We are also developing and cementing alliances. Trade agreements build bonds. They build bonds of friendship with other nations that extend not only to cooperation on economic issues but to cooperation on security issues as well.

Two major trade agreements the United States is currently considering, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, have the potential to provide significant strategic benefits for our country.

These agreements--these are the Defense Secretaries writing--``would reinforce important relationships with important allies and partners in critical regions of the world. By binding us closer together with Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Australia, among others, TPP would strengthen existing and emerging security relationships in the Asia-Pacific. ..... In Europe, TTIP would reinvigorate the transatlantic partnership and send an equally strong signal about the commitment of the United States to our European allies.''

That is again from the letter coming from seven former Defense Secretaries representing administrations of both political parties.

The Secretaries go on to note:

The successful conclusion of TPP and TTIP would also draw in other nations and encourage them to undertake political and economic reforms. The result will be deeper regional economic integration, increased political cooperation, and ultimately greater stability in the two regions of the world that will have the greatest long-term impact on U.S. prosperity and security.

In other words, these agreements will not only provide our Nation with significant economic benefits, they will also make a crucial contribution to our national security. The Defense Secretaries and military leaders also highlight another key point. Just because the United States isn't negotiating trade agreements doesn't mean other countries won't be.

The fact that the United States hasn't signed a single trade agreement over the past 5 years hasn't prevented other countries from signing numerous trade agreements over the same period. In fact, there are more than 260 trade agreements in effect around the globe today, but the United States is only a party to 14 of those.

If America fails to lead on trade, other nations, such as China, are going to step in to fill the void. And these nations will not have the best interests of American workers and American families in mind.

Free and fair trade agreements are essential for growing our economy and ensuring that products marked ``Made in the U.S.A.'' can compete on a level playing field around the globe. They are also an essential tool for strengthening our relationship with our allies, which is of particular concern now with so many areas of instability around the globe. Trade promotion authority provides the best way of securing these agreements.

The bipartisan legislation that we are considering this week reauthorizes trade promotion authority and includes a number of valuable updates, such as provisions to strengthen the transparency of the negotiating process and to ensure that the American people stay informed. It also contains provisions that I have pushed forward to require negotiators to ensure that trade agreements promote digital trade as well as trade in physical goods and services.

Given the increasing importance of digitally enabled commerce in the 21st century economy, it is essential that our trade agreements include new rules that keep digital trade free from unnecessary government interference. I have previously introduced legislation to help ensure that the free flow of digital goods and services is protected, and I am pleased that the bipartisan deal that was reached includes many of the very measures I have advocated.

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have repeatedly come together this year to pass legislation to address challenges that are facing our country. I hope we will see the same type of bipartisanship on this bill. This legislation will benefit American farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers. It will help to open new markets for American workers, and it will benefit American families. And it will help make our country more secure.

The President supports this legislation. A number of Senate Democrats are working with Republicans to get this done.

I hope that the rest of the Democrats in the Senate will join us to pass this important bill for American workers and businesses and make trade promotion authority legislation our next bipartisan achievement for the American people.

I yield the floor.

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