Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSRCIPT

Mr. President, over the last several weeks on the floor of both this body and the House, we have heard Members, colleagues, say they are tired of the old 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement playbook on trade. They are concerned that the package which is once again before the Senate is more of the same.

Here is my message on why this legislation needs to move forward. If you believe those policies of the 1990s failed to protect American workers and strengthen our economy, this is our chance to set a new course. This is our chance to put in place higher standards in global trade on matters such as labor rights and environmental protection, to shine some real sunlight on trade agreements and ensure that our country writes the rules of the road.

The fact is, in 2015, globalization is a reality. The choice is whether to sit back and allow globalization to push and pull on our economy until in ways dictated by countries in China. So our choice is either to move now and get into the center of the ring and fight for a stronger economic future, protect our workers and promote our values, or remain tethered to many of those old policies of the 1990s.

I say to the Senate today: If you believe, like me, that it is time once and for all to close the books on the North American free-trade era in trade, this legislation deserves your support.

In my hometown paper recently, there was an opinion article, and it stated that this trade bill lays out ``a hard-and-fast checklist for the TPP, holding the Obama administration accountable for meeting its goals and conditions.'' The article goes on to say that this legislation ``will reorient priorities and improve the process for the TPP and other trade agreements in the future.'' I completely agree with that view, but the Senate doesn't have to take my word for it. Those are the words of Tim Nesbitt, the past president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, who has disagreed with me on trade often over the years. Yet now he states that this legislation we will vote on today provides a fresh opportunity for trade done right.

When it comes to core American values--labor rights, environmental protection, and human rights--this legislation raises the bar and demands more from our trade negotiators than ever before.

We have talked a lot about a race to the bottom. My view is that if our country doesn't fight to protect worker rights and the environment with tough, enforceable trade agreements, those priorities are going to wither away. China is certainly not going to take up the banner for American values in trade. So if you believe America should stop a race to the bottom on labor rights, environmental safeguards, and human rights, this legislation is our chance to lift up global standards.

I want to talk for a moment about the economic potential of this legislation. What we all understand we need to do is make things here, grow things here, add value to them here, and then ship them somewhere. My State knows how to make this happen, and so do many others. About one out of five jobs in Oregon depends on international trade. Almost 90 percent of them are small and medium sized. And what we know is that in many instances those jobs pay better.

The fact is, if our farmers want to sell their products in Japan--and this is true of agriculture all over America. A lot of our farmers face average tariffs of 40 percent. That is right. If you want to export some jam to Vietnam, it will be marked up by 90 percent. If you want to sell a bottle of wine--and we have wine growers with prosperous businesses all over the country--they have to fork over 50 percent of the value to the government. So if we believe other countries should open their markets to American exports, like the U.S. is open to theirs, this is our chance to break down the tariffs and other barriers.

I want to touch for a moment again on how different this is than the 1990s. In the 1990s, nobody could have imagined the right tools to protect the modern Internet. Twenty-five years ago, it was impossible to make a living by setting up a business online. A cell phone was as big as a brick. In fact, the NAFTA negotiations began a year before the first Web site was set up. Today, Internet commerce is at the heart of our economy. If we want to cement America's leadership in the digital economy, this is our chance to vote for trade policies that will protect a free and open Internet.

Now, I wish to mention again, apropos of how different this is, that I have felt for some time that critics of past trade policy have been spot on with respect to a lot of this secrecy which is just gratuitous. If we believe deeply in trade, as Chairman Hatch and I do, and want more of it, why should we have all this unnecessary secrecy which just makes people cynical about trade?

So we have brought sunshine to this trade debate in a way that is unprecedented. For the first time, before the President can sign a deal, the full text has to be released to the public for 60 days. Before we can have votes in the other body and in the Senate, there will be no fewer than 4 months where people can open a proposed trade deal and read it for themselves.

So picture that: For 4 months, the American people will have in their hands--starting with the TPP--what the trade agreement is all about. That is simply unprecedented.

I wish to close the question of how we are going to proceed from here. This has obviously been a complicated piece of legislation. I appreciate the Senate and House leaders have committed to moving trade adjustment assistance alongside trade promotion authority as well as a proposal that originated with Senator Brown to strengthen our critically important trade enforcement laws. While the goal of enacting trade policies is a tool to give all Americans a chance to get ahead, trade adjustment assistance is an absolute must-pass bill, and I am confident it is going to get through Congress to the President's desk. That bill includes the vitally important program also that creates new opportunities for impoverished nations in Africa.

The Customs enforcement bill is also moving forward on a bipartisan basis, and there is important work there to be done. The Senate must resolve differences in the enforcement bill with the other body. I wish to make it clear this morning that I expect that conference to respect Democratic priorities. My Democratic colleagues and I will be laying down markers on several of our top priorities. I discussed those priorities with Chairman Ryan last night. Those priorities include provisions in the Senate bill championed by Senator Shaheen to help our small businesses, provisions authored by Senator Bennet to address enforcement environmental laws, and Senator Cantwell's important trade enforcement trust fund.

In my view, the Congress has an opportunity in this legislation to show it can work in a bipartisan way to take on one of the premier economic challenges of our time. Our job is to get past the policies of the 1990s and move toward getting trade done right.

Colleagues, let's pry open foreign markets and send more of our exports abroad. Let's fight for the American brand and the Oregon brand against the trade chiefs and the bad actors who are blocking our way, and let's raise the bar for American values and open our trade policies to sunlight.

I urge all in the Senate to vote yes on cloture today and to support this package as it advances this week. In effect, we get three important bills done this week and set in motion.

I yield the floor.

Source