Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1314, Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the Right to Appeal Act, and Providing for Consideration of the Senate Amendments to H.R. 644, Fighting Hunger Incentive Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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I thank the chairman for yielding his time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule and the underlying trade promotion authority granted by H.R. 1314.

As a member of the Rules Committee, I can affirm that the committee heard and seriously considered many amendments and concerns from both Democratic and Republican Members late into the night. This rule has been very fair, deliberative, and interested parties have been given ample opportunity to weigh in on it and on the underlying legislation.

Mr. Speaker, as you just heard, I come from the State of Washington, which is the most trade-benefited State in the country. If my colleagues want to see the benefit trade brings and the jobs it creates, they only have to look at my State. We export coffee, aircraft, footwear, software--you name it. We also have an enormous agriculture industry. In Washington, we export fully 30 percent of the apples we grow, more than 85 percent of the wheat, 75 percent of the hops. Right now, consumers around the world are enjoying a brand new crop of fresh Washington State cherries, but the trade success story I want to share with you today is about potatoes.

Prior to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement that the Congress passed and the President signed in 2011, we shipped $53 million worth of french fries to South Korea. After that agreement was passed, that value rose to $83 million--a 57 percent increase in just 2 years--largely attributed to the trade barriers that were lowered. For the record, that potato industry supports fully 24,000 jobs in my State. Those are good-paying jobs which are all supported by trade.

Trade promotion authority is about creating a fair playing field for American producers so we can create more jobs here at home. Most people may not know this, but, right now, American wines face 50 percent tariffs in Japan. Chilean and Argentinean wines face no tariffs at all. Our beef faces a 38 percent tariff--our oranges, a 16 percent tariff. TPA will instruct our negotiators to work on lowering these barriers to U.S. products.

Mr. Speaker, Americans produce some of the finest products in the world, and if given the chance to compete fairly, I believe they can. I have no doubt that we can outperform almost any competitor in the world, but we can't continue to allow other countries to stack the deck against us, which is happening right now. By granting the President the power to negotiate a treaty and by Congress telling him what priorities must be negotiated, we can create a fair playing field and create those jobs we need here at home.

I understand there are concerns about the privacy surrounding the TPP deal. I share those concerns, which is why I have personally gone and reviewed the text of this deal three times now.

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The reason this vote on TPA is so important is that it will make the deal public. It will give the American people at least 2 months and as much as 5 months to review any negotiated deal. That is months to tell their Members of Congress whether they should support the deal or not. Without voting on TPA, there is no review period. The deal can stay a secret.

Mr. Speaker, this rule and the underlying bill are critical to our economy. Without TPA, our country will be left disadvantaged against other countries, and we will be left to trade with one arm tied behind our back. With it, we can open new opportunities for our businesses. They can grow and create more jobs, and we can ensure that the American economy remains the most competitive, strongest economy in the world for decades to come.

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