Chuck Grassley: “hopefully, tomorrow, after a few rollcall votes on a few remaining amendments, we are going to have an opportunity to…”

“hopefully, tomorrow, after a few rollcall votes on a few remaining amendments, we are going to have an opportunity to pass this bipartisan trade promotion authority act of 2002. I would like to address the issue of the bill for a few minutes while we are waiting for final action by the Senate on how we proceed tomorrow. This bill provides the President with the flexibility he needs to negotiate strong international trade agreements on behalf of U.S. workers and farmers while maintaining Congress's constitutional role over U.S. trade policy. It represents a thoughtful approach to addressing the complex relationships between international trade, workers' rights, and the environment, without undermining the fundamental purpose and proven effectiveness of trade promotion authority procedures. Specifically, this bipartisan act gives the administration the authority to negotiate and bring back trade agreements to Congress that will eliminate and reduce trade barriers relating to manufacturing, services, agriculture, intellectual property, investment, and e-commerce.”