Chuck Grassley: “I rise to speak on the U.S. trade agenda. There are a number of important items on this year's trade agenda, including…”

“I rise to speak on the U.S. trade agenda. There are a number of important items on this year's trade agenda, including reauthorization of Trade Promotion Authority for the President and reauthorizing our trade adjustment assistance programs for workers who are displaced by trade. I will speak on those priorities another day. Today I want to focus on our trade relations with our neighbors in Central and South America. During my chairmanship of the Finance Committee, Congress passed implementing bills for trade agreements covering 12 countries. Out of these 12 countries, over half--7--are located in Latin America. I am pleased that Congress acted to strengthen our economic relations with Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, by implementing our trade agreements with these neighbors to the south. And I think we should all be pleased that these seven countries made it a priority to develop closer economic ties with us and to further commit themselves to transparency and the rule of law. I hope that the current Congress will continue working to strengthen economic relations between the United States and Latin America. Fortunately, we already have a roadmap for doing so. We have concluded free trade agreements with Peru and Colombia, and we are about to sign an agreement with Panama. It is up to this Congress to pass implementing legislation for these agreements.”