H.R. 2471

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, the Senate will soon vote on the nomination of Maria Pagan to serve as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and our envoy to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

This vote has been a long time coming; and in a moment, I am going to talk about Ms. Pagan's extensive qualifications and her long experience. But, first, Madam President and colleagues, there is a new urgency today for the Senate to confirm Ms. Pagan with strong bipartisan support.

The Russians' inhuman behavior means that they have forfeited the right to enjoy the fruits of the post-World War II international order.

The World Trade Organization is one of the key venues where the United States and our economic allies must hold Russia accountable for its illegal and unjustifiable war in Ukraine. It means the United States and our economic allies basically have to go to the World Trade Organization and tell Russia: Go fly a kite.

Now, here in the Congress, as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I am working with the ranking member, Senator Mike Crapo; House Ways and Means Chairman Richie Neal; and Ranking Member Kevin Brady on legislation that would revoke Russia's permanent normal trade status with the United States. This is part of suspending Russia's benefits at the World Trade Organization and would mean Russia's exports to the United States would immediately be hit with significant tariffs.

Our country has led the effort to ratchet up sanctions against Russia to levels nobody has seen.

Russia's economy is in free fall, and there is no question that hitting Putin's tight circle of oligarchs who dominate Russia's largest industries will pay off. Taking away Russia's trade benefits is an essential next step that will help to freeze Russia out of key markets around the world.

As our Envoy to the World Trade Organization, Ms. Pagan would be our point person coordinating this effort. She will be the one coordinating with like-minded countries and intervening in support of Ukraine. That is why it is so important that she be confirmed today and why it is so important that she have strong backing from both sides of the aisle.

Now, her nomination won bipartisan support in the Senate Finance Committee. The Finance Committee approved her nomination by a vote of 27 to 1, so we are talking about near-unanimous support--certainly something of a rare sight in the Congress these days. She got that support because she is a highly experienced public servant who knows how to get the best possible deal for our workers and our farmers and our businesses.

Over three decades in government, she has served at both the Department of Commerce and at the Office of the USTR. She is an expert in a variety of fields. From trade in services to government procurement, she has litigated several disputes before the World Trade Organization. She now serves as deputy general counsel at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the person called in when issues are particularly challenging. She was recently at the center of the U.S.- Mexico-Canada negotiations, and she was key to helping Democrats guarantee that the final deal would be enforceable. That was a must- have for all Americans; otherwise, the agreement wasn't going to pass.

Working through the WTO to isolate Russia is just going to be one part of her job. There are critical negotiations at WTO that absolutely have to move forward. These include COVID vaccines and the unfair fisheries subsidies that do so much damage to our environment and our fishing industry.

The WTO itself has big issues that have to be addressed. Its rules are out of date, and its procedures move too slowly to keep up with a modern economy.

The Chinese Government, for example, takes advantage of the World Trade Organization's current shortcomings to game the trade system, and they do it at the expense of American jobs, growth, and innovation. A system that is intended to produce ironclad, predictable rules is now opening up loopholes that trade rip-off artists are exploiting.

Ms. Pagan understands these challenges that I described. She is equipped to confront these issues. She is a proven negotiator and a strong advocate for American workers and farmers and businesses.

She has secured significant support from Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.

There is urgent work that awaits her in Geneva. I urge my colleagues to support this nomination. It is priority business for today, given our trade challenges with Russia.

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