Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I compliment the minority leader on his comments on trade. I wish to speak in morning business on the same topic. I will not have to speak long because I have talked about this many times since I joined the Senate over 2 years ago. Today I will focus on the U.S.-Colombia trade agreement. This agreement was signed by both the United States and Colombia on November 22, 2006. It has been around many years. It is expected to create several thousand jobs. Yet for 5 years, to the detriment of U.S. exporters and job seekers, policymakers have punted on this important trade agreement. The Obama administration has been sitting on the sidelines watching other countries slowly chip away at U.S. competitiveness in the Colombian marketplace. Our friends to the north in Canada and to the south in Mexico wisely negotiated new agreements with Colombia. They saw the void U.S. companies and workers should have been filling and acted to fill that void themselves. I believe it is time we stop watching other countries make the moves that have been teed up for this country for about 5 years. Implementing the agreement would increase U.S. exports by more than $\1/2\ billion annually and create almost 4,000 much needed jobs in the United States. Simply stated, passing this agreement would help to improve our economy.…”