Dave Camp: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this legislation to strengthen trade and…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this legislation to strengthen trade and investment ties with Africa and the CAFTA-DR countries and support well-paying jobs in the United States. The legislation also extends the President's authority to impose the import ban on products from Burma for an additional 3 years and reauthorizes the actual imposition of the import sanctions for 1 year. The legislation has broad bipartisan support and is supported by all stakeholders. AGOA has succeeded in deepening trade and investment ties with sub- Saharan Africa and underscoring U.S. commitment to the region. The apparel industry has been a major driver of employment growth in Africa under AGOA. In Lesotho alone, jobs in the textile and apparel industry have more than doubled--growing from 19,000 to 45,000--because of AGOA. This bill extends the third-country fabric provisions which are vital to ensuring the continued success of the AGOA program and ensures that the new Republic of South Sudan is eligible to benefit from AGOA. Under the CAFTA-DR trade agreement, trade has grown substantially. And since the implementation of this agreement, the trade deficit the United States previously had with these countries has turned into a trade surplus. Today's legislation builds upon that success by further improving the agreement's textile rules of origin. These changes encourage greater use of U.S. inputs in the CAFTA-DR countries, which supports U.S.…”