Time to Act on Trade Agreements

Statement

The economy remains one of my chief concerns in my work in Congress. Recent reports on consumer confidence and job numbers are disheartening and indicate more must be done to get our economy back on track. While the government's role in this endeavor should be limited, there are some policies it can enact to encourage growth.

Trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia have been sitting on the shelf since 2006 and 2007. Estimates put the impact of these agreements at more than $10 billion in exports and nearly 400,000 jobs. What's the hold up?

Shortly after President Obama took office he went back to all three countries and raised issues on the already signed deals. Now that many of these concerns have been addressed, the White House has refused to submit the pending deals for congressional approval, despite the president promising as much in the State of the Union address. The reason is the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.

The TAA program provides benefits and services to workers who become unemployed due to the impact of international trade. As part of the stimulus package, the administration temporarily ramped up the TAA program to more than $1 billion a year. Now that the program has reverted to its historic levels, the president is holding the trade agreements hostage unless the stimulus TAA provisions are increased and extended to unprecedented levels. This isn't right. The president needs to put politics aside and move these trade agreements forward.

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