In Speech, Hatch Calls on Obama Administration to Act on Trio of Trade Pacts

Utah Senator Says, “With respect to international trade the administration has adopted a policy of delay and dither.”

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, criticized the Obama Administration for delaying congressional action on the pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea and urged the President to submit implementing legislation to Congress.

Below are excerpts of Hatch’s speech:

ON LINKING TAA TO PASSAGE OF TRADE PACTS:
“By tacking the expansion of TAA onto the stimulus bill, and refusing to allow Congress to vote on the extended TAA program on its own merits, it is unclear whether there is, in fact, bipartisan support for this expanded program. If the expanded TAA program can stand on its own merits, as each of the FTAs can, then it should be introduced and voted on separately from the FTAs.

“Demanding an expanded TAA as another excuse to delay voting on these important agreements is irresponsible and self-defeating. At the same time, by not submitting these agreements for approval by Congress, the Administration is doing a disservice to the American economy, and at the same time is letting down some of our strongest allies. Nothing good can come from this continued inaction.”

ON THE ADMINITRATION’S DITHER & DELAY TRADE AGENDA:
“This country needs all the jobs and economic growth that we can get. So why does the administration refuse to submit these agreements to Congress for consideration? Despite declaring the benefits of these agreements for the United States at every turn, the Obama Administration is sitting on them, hurting our recovery and undermining job growth.
With respect to international trade, the administration has adopted a policy of delay and dither.”

ON THE NEED FOR PRO-GROWTH POLICIES TO JUMPSTART THE ECONOMY:
“Everyone recognizes that these trade agreements will promote jobs and economic growth at a time when both are in short supply. Submitting and passing free trade agreements would be a quick and cost-free way of generating economic growth. And yet, in an environment where Congress is desperately attempting to encourage economic growth and rein in spending to avert a fiscal crisis, the White House and many Democrats are delaying the pro-growth trade agreements until we get more government spending through TAA.”

ON THE STATE OF THE FRAGILE ECONOMY:
“Our economy teeters on the brink with a weak economic recovery. One in seven Americans are on food stamps. Durable goods orders dropped 3.6 percent in April. Last month, the economy only added 54,000 private sector jobs, and unemployment went up to 9.1 percent. The real estate market remains in tatters, with the average single-family home price falling by 33 percent since 2007. We face a historic spending crisis that has generated warnings from Standard & Poors and Moody’s that the federal government faces a downgrade in its debt rating — an action that would be devastating to this nation and to America’s families. To forestall this coming crisis, leaders in Congress and the administration are meeting on an almost daily basis to determine how best to get our nation’s deficits and debt under control. Every spending program and expenditure is being reviewed to find cuts to get our fiscal house in order.”

Below is the text of Hatch’s full speech delivered on the Senate floor this morning:

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of our pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. Right before Memorial Day, the Finance Committee held two trade hearings. The first was on the U.S. – Panama Trade Promotion Agreement. The second was on the U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement.

Earlier, the Finance Committee held a hearing on the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. These agreements have been thoroughly reviewed by the Finance Committee. In fact, given that the Colombia agreement was signed in 2006 — and the Panama and South Korea agreements in 2007 — these agreements have been more than thoroughly reviewed by U.S. elected officials and U.S. agencies over the past several years. For the sake of the U.S. economy and for the sake of our country’s standing in the world, it’s clearly time to take the next step. It’s time for President Obama to submit implementing legislation for these agreements to the Congress.

The U.S. trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea are good agreements that will benefit the United States and American workers. According to the nonpartisan U.S. International Trade Commission, these trade agreements — once fully implemented — will likely increase U.S. exports by over $12 billion and grow the U.S. gross domestic product by over $14 billion. Put simply, our trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea will boost U.S. exports, expand the U.S. economy, and thus promote job growth in the United States.
The President and members of his Administration understand this. They have spoken on numerous occasions on the benefits of the U.S. trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea for our country. Please bear with me as I review some of their statements.

Four months ago, President Obama in his State of Union address expressed his support for the U.S. –Korea Free Trade Agreement, which he stated will support at least 70,000 American jobs. He then asked Congress to pass the Korea agreement as soon as possible.

Last December, President Obama noted that the South Korea agreement is expected to increase annual exports of American goods by up to $11 billion. In that same speech he said, I look forward to working with Congress and leaders in both parties to approve this pact. Because if there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on, it should be creating jobs and opportunity for our people. I couldn’t agree more.

Just two months ago, the President stated that he believes that a recently announced labor action plan of Colombia serves as a basis for moving forward on a U.S. – Colombia free trade agreement and that this represents a potential $1 billion of exports and . . . could mean thousands of jobs for workers here in the United States. After meeting with President Martinelli of Panama, President Obama said that he is confident now that a free trade agreement would be good for our country, would create jobs here in the United States, [and] open up new markets with potential for billions of dollars of cross-border trade.

The President's principal trade advisor — U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk — just last month recognized that the U.S. – Korea trade agreement will support more than 70,000 American jobs, and he noted as well that it will result in over $10 billion in increased annual exports from the United States.

In April Ambassador Kirk said that Colombia represents $1.1 billion dollars in new export opportunities. Regarding Panama, he stated that [t]he Panama agreement will provide access to one of the fastest growing markets in Latin America. In speaking on all three pending trade agreements only last month, Ambassador Kirk said that the pending agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia are at the forefront of our efforts to open new markets.

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke in April emphasized the need to pass the U.S. – Korea Trade Promotion Agreement through Congress as soon as possible. He also said that the administration feels similar urgency to get the pending Panama and Colombia trade deals done. He noted that all three pending trade agreements will move us even closer to President Obama’s National Export Initiative goal of doubling American exports by 2015. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has spoken in favor of our pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. On May 12, he stated that the paramount reason to implement these three pending trade agreements is jobs. He went on to note that these trade agreements will result in over $2 billion in additional sales of U.S. agricultural products. Secretary Vilsack has also stated that until we complete these three trade agreements, U.S. agriculture will not have a level playing field in Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken on the benefits of these three trade agreements for our country. When discussing the U.S. – Korea Free Trade Agreement in April, she stated not only that this agreement will increase U.S. exports by billions of dollars and thus support tens of thousands of American jobs, but also that implementing the South Korea agreement is profoundly in our strategic interest. When speaking on the subject of trade and economic growth last month, Secretary Clinton said that [o]ne of our top goals is to complete free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

As someone might say, there is a lot of upside to these agreements. Billions in new exports. Billions in economic growth. And thousands of new jobs. What’s not to like? So I have a question. What’s the holdup? What on earth is the administration waiting on? This country needs all the jobs and economic growth that we can get.

So why does the administration refuse to submit these agreements to Congress for consideration? Despite declaring the benefits of these agreements for the United States at every turn, the Obama Administration is sitting on them, hurting our recovery and undermining job growth. With respect to international trade, the administration has adopted a policy of delay and dither.

I see few signs that the Administration is working hard to move these agreements through Congress. I don’t see Administration officials walking the halls of Congress in attempts to build support for the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea agreements. While the Administration has said great things about these agreements, its efforts to build any type of momentum to advance them on Capitol Hill are tepid, at best. On trade policy, the administration is all talk and no action.

Or as my friends from Texas might put it, on these agreements, the President and his team are all hat and no cattle. This is definitely a strange economic strategy. While our economy remains shaky, and while the rest of the world watches in bewilderment as the United States lets other countries take over our export markets, the Administration just sits there. It just sits there.

Actually, let me correct myself. The Administration doesn’t just sit there. Instead the Administration is actually going out of its way finding new excuses for not moving forward with the implementation of these trade agreements.

Despite countless speeches from the President and his administration about the importance of the three trade agreements to American exports, creating American jobs, and strengthening our alliances with key friends, his administration busies itself concocting more road blocks, more delays, and more excuses. It is time to be blunt about this.

This schizophrenic trade policy is doing nothing but hurting American workers and undermining our recovery. I believe that each free trade agreement, standing on its own merits and with the full backing of the White House and congressional leadership, will pass with significant bipartisan margins. But we are now told that we will never have a chance to vote on any of these agreements, unless the White House and Democrat Senators get what they want on Trade Adjustment Assistance.

Let’s put this in perspective. Our economy teeters on the brink with a weak economic recovery. One in seven Americans are on food stamps. Durable goods orders dropped 3.6 percent in April. Last month, the economy only added 54,000 private sector jobs, and unemployment went up to 9.1 percent. The real estate market remains in tatters, with the average single-family home price falling by 33 percent since 2007.

We face a historic spending crisis that has generated warnings from Standard & Poors and Moody’s that the federal government faces a downgrade in its debt rating — an action that would be devastating to this nation and to America’s families. To forestall this coming crisis, leaders in Congress and the administration are meeting on an almost daily basis to determine how best to get our nation’s deficits and debt under control. Every spending program and expenditure is being reviewed to find cuts to get our fiscal house in order.

Everyone recognizes that these trade agreements will promote jobs and economic growth at a time when both are in short supply. Submitting and passing free trade agreements would be a quick and cost-free way of generating economic growth. And yet, in an environment where Congress is desperately attempting to encourage economic growth and rein in spending to avert a fiscal crisis, the White House and many Democrats are delaying the pro-growth trade agreements until we get more government spending through TAA.

And for what?

If an expanded TAA is so critical, where is the record of success to prove it? What evidence is there that giving some workers who have lost their jobs more benefits than others improves U.S. competitiveness or is a responsible way to spend taxpayer dollars? The mere fact that more people are in a program, and that more taxpayer money is being spent, is not evidence of success.

Congress does not pick winners and losers in the movie rental business.
When Blockbuster employees lost their jobs because of the rise of Netflix, nobody stood up and said that we should create a new big spending government program to help displaced Blockbuster employees.

President Reagan recognized the problems inherent in this program when he said, [t]he purpose [of TAA] is to help these workers find jobs in growing sectors of our economy. There's nothing wrong with that, but because these benefits are paid out on top of normal unemployment benefits, we wind up paying greater benefits to those who lose their jobs because of foreign competition than we do to their friends and neighbors who are laid off due to domestic competition. Anyone must agree that this is unfair.
By tacking the expansion of TAA onto the stimulus bill, and refusing to allow Congress to vote on the extended TAA program on its own merits, it is unclear whether there is, in fact, bipartisan support for this expanded program. If the expanded TAA program can stand on its own merits, as each of the FTAs can, then it should be introduced and voted on separately from the FTAs. Demanding an expanded TAA as another excuse to delay voting on these important agreements is irresponsible and self-defeating.

At the same time, by not submitting these agreements for approval by Congress, the Administration is doing a disservice to the American economy, and at the same time is letting down some of our strongest allies.

Nothing good can come from this continued inaction. Make no mistake about it — failure to submit these agreements is a failure in presidential leadership. I’m convinced that the window for the Administration to submit these agreements will soon pass. Given the upcoming election season, I’m afraid that if these agreements aren’t submitted this summer, they never will be.

The President needs to act. I appreciate the President’s goal of doubling exports. Having goals is great. But we all know that if you don’t do the work and take action, goals become little more than false hope — they never become reality. The President and his cabinet admit that these agreements are essential to their goal of doubling exports and creating jobs here at home. Yet, the action necessary to achieve that goal and create those jobs — submission of the agreements — remains in the distant future. Instead of benefitting from these agreements, we watch the days slip by, the explanations and excuses pile up, our export markets decline, and our economy suffer.

I strongly urge the President to submit implementing bills for the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea trade agreements to Congress this summer. There is no time like the present when it comes to encouraging economic growth and business creation. I yield the floor.

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