Agoa Extension Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Alabama for yielding me time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote in support of renewing the African Growth and Opportunity Extension Act.

AGOA is a critical program to advance prosperity for the people of sub-Saharan Africa and to maintain United States' leadership in the region. It is a program that has bipartisan support.

AGOA is far from perfect, and so I understand concerns raised by a wide range of stakeholders, including labor, environmental, and other trade groups, about proposed changes to make this program better, stronger, and more effective moving forward.

This is a straight reauthorization for 3 years, providing a runway for all stakeholders to weigh in on needed improvements. To appropriate the sage words of Frederick Douglass: ``Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.''

The U.S. must not cede power to China or any other world power by not curing the lapse of this vital, soft power tool.

Madam Speaker, I urge support of the bill.

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