Chuck Grassley: “this day is long overdue. But the fact that this day has arrived for the consideration of the Peru Trade Promotion…”

“this day is long overdue. But the fact that this day has arrived for the consideration of the Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act is still a good day to have happen, even though it should have happened several months ago. In fact, I would say it should have happened last year. But the same problems that kept it from coming up this year were in place last year. I strongly support this bill. I urge my colleagues to do the same. Over the past 7 years, Congress has passed implementing bills for trade agreements with 12 countries. Of these 12, 7 are located in Latin America. The implementation of those agreements demonstrated our commitment to strengthening our relations with our neighbors in Latin America. We now have an opportunity to build on that commitment by implementing our trade agreement with the country of Peru. At the same time, these agreements serve to advance our national interest. Too often we talk in terms of the economic interests of the United States when it comes to trade. We ought to be looking at things beyond the economics of trade. I say these agreements advance more than our economic interests; they advance a broader national interest because they foster transparency and increased respect for the rule of law in international business transactions. I think it goes beyond the business transactions, because with every business transaction, there are millions of people involved.…”