Liz Saville Roberts: “I rise to make several important points regarding the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement. As chairman of the…”

“I rise to make several important points regarding the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement. As chairman of the Intelligence Committee and member of the Armed Services Committee, I am well aware of the valuable friendship that our two countries share. Australia's commitment to the fight in the Global War on Terror is unwavering. Australia's support in liberating and rebuilding Iraq has been crucial there. This agreement provides better opportunities for Kansas manufacturers, especially those in the aviation and transportation sectors to increase exports to the Australians. I understand that there is strong, bipartisan, interregional support for this agreement across industries and across the country. However, I feel compelled to share with my colleagues several things which trouble Kansas about the way this agreement was constructed. I must tell our colleagues that in all the years I have had the privilege to serve Kansas and agriculture in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, there have been few, if any, times when there was as much open hostility to trade as I sense in some areas today. In Dodge City terms, 'The bloom is off the lily, and the lily was run over by a lawn mower.' I have had more than one producer ask me just what we are doing being involved in all these trade agreements when it seems that agriculture is under attack.”