Political Quotes

“I have come to the floor to speak about a bill that Senator Baucus and I have introduced today. It's called the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010. The purpose of our bill is to help Haiti recover from the devastation it suffered in the massive earthquake that struck the country in January. How we respond to natural disasters says a lot about ourselves, whether it's flooding in Iowa or an earthquake in Haiti. The idea behind the bill is simple. First, we extend current trade preferences for Haiti through fiscal year 2020, to provide more certainty for companies doing business either in Haiti or with Haitian partners. Second, we grant additional duty-free access to the U.S. market for targeted categories of textile and apparel products. That will help to draw more investment into Haiti's economy and thereby promote long-term job creation, economic development, and political stability. Our bill is a bipartisan, bicameral compromise. It is the product of 3 months of collaborative negotiations among the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees and with representatives of the U.S. textile industry and the Haitians themselves. We also reached out to members of Congress who have constituent textile and apparel interests, to ensure that their concerns were addressed. Our ability to reach agreement on the bill is a testament to the good will and good faith of all those involved in our negotiations.”