Calvin Dooley: “I rise today to be an advocate for the United States making significant reforms in our sanctions policy. It is becoming…”

“I rise today to be an advocate for the United States making significant reforms in our sanctions policy. It is becoming increasingly apparent that an increasing share of our gross domestic product and indeed the growth of our economy is becoming related to trade. It is obvious, I think, too, to most Americans when we look at the fact that only 4 percent of the world's population live inside our borders, with 96 percent living outside our borders, that this country has to adopt policies to ensure that we will have the greatest access to these markets, because that is where the interests of increased job opportunities that are so important to the working men and women of this country as well as the market opportunities for the businesses lie. I have beside me here a chart which really demonstrates one of the reasons and makes one of the most compelling arguments for sanctions reform. We currently impose some form of sanctions on over 75 countries. The most distressing aspect of this is the fact that it is costing our economy up to $15 to $20 billion a year in lost imports, and that means we have $200,000 fewer jobs, high-paying jobs in this country because of the sanctions we have imposed. I have introduced a piece of legislation with my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Crane). It is a bipartisan piece of legislation that is asking us to adopt a new policy to ensure that we will use sanctions only as a last resort.”