Political Quotes

“this week the House passed a 10 month extension of our unilateral trade preferences for Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and today it is the Senate's turn to consider the issue. I want to take a moment to explain why I have decided to agree to support this 10 month extension. As my colleagues know, I have been critical of the operation of these trade preferences for quite some time. Last year, reported developments in Ecuador and Bolivia led me to question the commitment of their respective Governments to upholding the democratic rule of law, honoring contracts and other legal obligations, protecting civic freedoms such as freedom of the press, and fully partnering with us in the fight against traffic in illicit narcotics. In that context, I have questioned why we should renew these particular trade preferences, which we provide in addition to the broad preferences that we give to developing countries under our separate Generalized System of Preferences program. More generally, I have questioned why we should continue to extend unilateral trade preferences when our farmers and manufacturers deserve to enjoy reciprocal trade benefits. I realize that we advance our national interest by fostering the creation of legitimate economic opportunities in the four Andean beneficiary countries. There need to be viable alternatives in the region if we are going to succeed in the fight against illicit narcotics. And the Andean trade preferences have been a good start.”