June 08,2006

Grassley Welcomes Confirmation of New U.S. Trade Representative

The Senate today voted in a voice vote to confirm Susan C. Schwab as United States Trade
Representative. Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance with jurisdiction over
international trade, made the following floor statement prior to the vote.

Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley
in Support of Nomination of Susan C. Schwab
to be United States Trade Representative
Thursday, June 8, 2006

Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the nomination of Susan Schwab to serve as United States
Trade Representative. It’s almost seven months to the day since the Senate unanimously confirmed
Ambassador Schwab to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative. During her service in that
position, Ambassador Schwab has amply demonstrated her qualifications to take over as our next
Trade Representative. She successfully concluded negotiations of trade agreements with Peru and
Colombia, and has been actively engaged in the ongoing negotiations of the Doha Development
Round of the World Trade Organization.

Given her strong background in trade policy, it’s not surprising that Ambassador Schwab has served
so well in her current position. Ambassador Schwab formerly served as Assistant Secretary of
Commerce and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service. That’s an agency
within the Department of Commerce with people on the ground in foreign countries pushing for the
interests of U.S. businesses. She herself worked abroad to advance U.S. trade objectives while
serving as a trade policy officer in the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. And her first job in Washington was
as an agricultural trade negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Ambassador Schwab thus knows full well the importance, and the challenge, of advancing the trade
interests of U.S. farmers. Ambassador Schwab also has extensive experience working in the
Congress. She spent eight years during the 1980s as a trade policy specialist and then as legislative
director for Senator Danforth at a time when he chaired the Trade Subcommittee of the Finance
Committee. Ambassador Schwab is well aware of the important role that Congress plays in U.S.
trade policy. I look forward to working closely with her in advancing U.S. trade objectives.

In addition, Ambassador Schwab has experience working on trade issues in the private sector. At one
point she worked for Motorola as Director of Corporate Business Development. In that position she
engaged in strategic planning on behalf of Motorola in Asia. More recently, she served as Dean of
the University of Maryland School of Public Policy from 1995 through 2003, and then as President
and CEO of the University System of Maryland Foundation as well as Vice Chancellor for
Advancement. Her academic and private sector experiences complement her strong background in
government service.

Given the major challenges we face in advancing a robust trade agenda, it’s especially important that
we have someone of Ambassador Schwab’s caliber to serve as our Trade Representative. We need
to achieve substantial progress in the Doha Round negotiations, and soon, if we’re going to succeed
in getting an agreement before trade promotion authority expires next year. And we still have a long
way to go to reach an ambitious outcome that would be acceptable to the United States Congress.
We’re also in the process of negotiating free trade agreements with a number of important trading
partners, including South Korea and Malaysia. Our negotiations with South Korea and Malaysia will
present new challenges, particularly in addressing regulatory and other non-tariff barriers to trade.
It’s essential that our bilateral negotiations with South Korea, Malaysia, and other nations conclude
in time to be considered under trade promotion authority.

In addition, it’s important that our next Trade Representative continue to encourage meaningful
regulatory reform in other major trading partners such as Japan and China.

And I expect Ambassador Schwab to continue to push our trading partners to come into compliance
with their existing trade obligations, such as Mexico’s obligations under NAFTA and the WTO
regarding the importation of U.S. agricultural products, and China’s obligations to protect
intellectual property rights.

Separately, I expect that any bilateral agreement on Russia’s accession to the WTO will be concluded
on strong, commercially meaningful terms, and will not be rushed to meet some artificial deadline.
Russia must demonstrate its willingness, ability, and commitment to abide by WTO rules.

It’s important that we remind ourselves of the tremendous benefits that we derive from open
international trade. On average over the past decade, our economy has created a net 2 million jobs
each year. And in 2005, our unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent, which is well below the
averages of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. An important part of our economic success is due to trade.
During the last decade, our exports have accounted for about one-quarter of U.S. economic growth.
And jobs created by exports are estimated to pay 13 to 18 percent more on average compared to nonexport
jobs.

With respect to agriculture, approximately one-third of acres planted in the United States are for
export. And our services sector, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the U.S. economy, is
anxious to break down barriers to our exports of services around the world. Today our services
exports account for little more than a quarter of total U.S. exports of goods and services, so breaking
down barriers to our services exports would go a long way toward helping us improve our trade
deficit.

Therefore, Mr. President, we in Congress need to recommit ourselves to securing improved market
access for our exporters, both in the Doha Round negotiations and by means of bilateral and regional
trade agreements.

In conclusion, I’m confident that Ambassador Schwab will effectively meet each of the many
challenges she’ll face as our next Trade Representative. Her experience and skills make it quite
evident that she’s the right person for the job. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her
nomination. And, once she’s confirmed, I look forward to working with her to advance an ambitious
trade agenda.