Ron Kirk: “if we don't repeal Jackson-Vanik and extend PNTR, we have none of those protections.”

If there is any reason for us to repeal Jackson-Vanik and grant PNTR, it is that we no longer have to hope.

By repealing Jackson-Vanik, we make sure--and you represent a part of the country in which innovation is just embedded in our lifeblood.

We have urged China in every fora, bilaterally, through the G-20 and others, to allow their currency to float to market rates.

The exclusion of U.S. beef from the Asian market, as you know, over the last 8 years has been crippling to our beef industry.