Cramer Statement on House Passage of TPA

Press Release

Today, Congressman Kevin Cramer released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2146, as amended. The legislation establishes Congressional trade negotiating objectives, enhances consultation requirements and information sharing with Congress before, during, and after trade negotiations, and provides the rules for Congressional consideration of trade agreements and their implementing bills. Last week the House voted in favor of Part II of Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1314, the Trade Act of 2015 (TPA) by a vote of 219 - 211. Part I, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) failed by a vote of 126-302. In order for the package to be signed in to law, the House needed to approve Trade Adjustment Assistance.

"Today's TPA vote is about jobs. International trade is a critical component of the U.S. economy, with approximately 96 percent of the world's consumer's residing outside of the United States. In North Dakota, over 100,000 jobs are dependent upon trade and North Dakota's exports have grown from $1 billion in 2004 to $5.29 billion in 2014. These jobs and future economic growth in our state are threatened if we don't approve TPA," said Cramer.

TPA reinserts Congress into the trade process. One often overlooked fact is the TPA legislation allows either the House or the Senate to vote and unilaterally opt out of the fast track trade negotiations. This option is an additional check upon this or any President's trade negotiation authority.

"Our allies in Asia and across the globe are looking to the United States to see if we will lead on free trade. While our nation has sat on the sidelines, China has led in the creation of forty-eight separate trade agreements in Asia with the U.S. only a party in two of them. We have seen a corresponding 43% reduction in our country's exports to Asia. We have lost jobs and businesses because markets were closed to U.S. exports," said Cramer.

TPA creates more transparency for Congress and the American people. The legislation mandates the full text of any free trade agreement is available online for anyone to read 60 days prior to any vote occurring on the agreement in Congress.

Source