Nancy L. Johnson: “I do not think most of the people in America are conscious that 30 percent of our economic growth is the result of…”

“I do not think most of the people in America are conscious that 30 percent of our economic growth is the result of exports. We saw in the gentleman's next chart how the number of jobs associated with exports is growing far more rapidly than the number of jobs associated with domestic sales. That is what fast track is all about. It is about whether or not we are going to be at the table to negotiate new markets for our exports. I was thinking, as my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Gene Taylor, spoke about the jobs lost in his district to international competition, about the jobs lost in my district to international competition, and nothing is more agonizing than to see a factory close or a business fail, because that is not just a business failure, that is people out of work. But competitiveness has nothing to do with fast track. Those factories closing has nothing to do with fast track. In fact, if we do not negotiate access to new markets, if we cannot get American goods into new markets, far more factories will close because the issue is twofold. The first issue is competitiveness; the second issue is open markets.”