Chuck Grassley: “last night we started debate on the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Last night, in addition to the economic…”

“last night we started debate on the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Last night, in addition to the economic factors involved in the approving of this bill, I spoke about the national security importance of this Central American Free Trade Agreement. I also talked--as, obviously, we do on most trade legislation--about the benefits of the agreement to the U.S. economy in general. This morning, I will focus on the benefits of this agreement for U.S. agriculture. As a Senator from Iowa and as a person who lives on and has an interest in a family farm my son operates, I have major interest in the U.S. agricultural policies that benefit American farmers. Moreover, as chairman of the Finance Committee, I pay particularly close attention to trade issues as they affect agriculture. I consulted frequently with the U.S. Trade Representative during negotiations on this agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement. I do that because that is the responsibility my committee has under trade promotion authority, which is a process by which Congress delegates the process of our carrying out our constitutional responsibility of control over international trade to the President to negotiate because it is quite impractical for 535 Members of Congress to negotiate with foreign countries. U.S. negotiators went to great lengths to see that the Central American Free Trade Agreement would be a good agreement for American farmers. Their efforts were successful.…”