Sam Farr: “I rise on the debate on the rule to urge defeat of this rule. I ask defeat of this rule because of the situation at…”

“I rise on the debate on the rule to urge defeat of this rule. I ask defeat of this rule because of the situation at hand. The United States Congress has been asked to adopt, reapprove the Andean Trade Act, which was adopted over 10 years ago. It had a sunset in it so that there would be debate to be able to revise it and look at it and debate it. This bill comes to the floor without any public hearings, without any debate. In fact, it was rushed through the Committee on Rules just a few hours ago. And now we are asked to adopt one of the most important trade policies to affect the southern hemisphere. It affects all of Central America, the Caribbean, and the Andean region of Latin America. There are a lot of concerns that you hear from Members here, concerns that ought to be addressed and these trade agreements ought to be modernized and updated with the circumstances at hand. And we need to have a public process and a public hearing to do that. It did not occur here; and, therefore, the rule ought to be defeated and the bill ought to be defeated. Yes, there is pressure on us because the bill does sunset. But we can do a better job than what we have done with bringing this bill to the floor at this time, at this moment. So I urge a defeat of the rule.”