Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I can report there has been an all-night effort to try to work out this issue to bring parties together, particularly around our colleagues being able to offer more amendments, and on the issue of the Export-Import Bank--something I favor very strongly, and Senator Cantwell makes a very important point that we have trade agreements, but it is also important to have financing tools, which is what the Export-Import Bank is all about. So we have been working throughout the night trying to address both of those issues, Export-Import Bank and the question of our colleagues being able to offer more amendments.

When you hear the words ``TPA'' and ``TPP,'' it sounds like a company that has been through too many mergers, but the fact is these terms are enormously important to America's economic future. Our markets are basically open. Many countries hit us with double- and triple-digit tariffs on our exports. Export jobs often pay better than the nonexport jobs do because there is a lot of value added in the process.

The vote today will begin the efforts to replace the outdated trade rules of the 1990s with a modern set of trade rules that can help America get more of those good-paying jobs.

When you talk about international trade, the first thing you have to focus on is the estimate is, in the developing world, there are going to be about 1 billion middle-class consumers. Those are middle-class consumers with money--money in their pockets--and they can buy American goods and American services. They can buy our wonderful ag products like Oregon wine. They can buy helicopters and bicycles and planes and computers. There is enormous affection around the world for buying the American brand, for buying the Oregon brand.

With modern trade rules, we can make sure our exporters are able to get the kinds of goods and services that those billion middle-class consumers are going to want to buy, and that is always what drives the modern economy--middle-class consumers buying goods and services. One billion people in the developing world are going to be middle class in 2025.

Chairman Hatch is with me on the floor. What we have sought to do for now about 7 months is replace the old 1990s playbook on trade with a modern one. That is important because in the 1990s nobody had iPhones, nobody was texting. We are talking about a very different time.

Here is an example: Opponents have often, and I think with substantial legitimacy, talked about how there has been way too much secrecy associated with trade. If you believe deeply in trade, as I do, and you want more of it, why would you want to have all this secrecy that just leaves the American people with the view that something is being hidden back in Washington, DC?

So Chairman Hatch and I came together and put in place the most transparent policies on trade in our country's history. For example, by law--by law--before the President of the United States signs the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that document has to be public for 60 days before the President signs it. On top of that, there are probably another 2 months that take place before anybody in the Senate or anybody in the House on the floor of those bodies actually votes. What that means--and I want to give the opportunity to my colleague to make closing remarks--what it means is, as part of the new day on trade policy--in the past a lot of Americans were in the dark about trade policy. Now they will be able to come to a townhall meeting of their elected officials, such as the ones I plan to hold in a few days at home. The American people will be able to come to a townhall meeting, and starting with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, have that document in their hands for close to 4 months before their elected representative has to vote. That is what Chairman Hatch and I have sought to do in terms of coming up with a modern trade policy.

I think it is appropriate that my colleague--and I appreciate his partnership--will have a chance to wrap this up.

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