Dave Camp: “I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today is a good day. Many of us have been working for years…”

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today is a good day. Many of us have been working for years for the opportunity to approve our pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. We have called on the President throughout his term to submit all three agreements to Congress, but opposition among some Democrats led many to believe that we would have to settle for just one or two of the agreements. Today, we have all three pending agreements before us. Approving them will resuscitate the U.S. trade agenda, create U.S. jobs, and help get our economy moving again. The U.S. International Trade Commission has estimated that the three agreements will increase U.S. exports by at least $13 billion. By the President's own estimation, that could generate 250,000 new jobs. The ITC has also determined that these agreements will increase U.S. gross domestic product by at least $10 billion, a stimulus that doesn't cost a single dime in government spending. This agreement disproportionately benefits the U.S. because it rectifies the current imbalance in U.S.-Colombian trade. Last year, Colombian exporters paid virtually no tariffs when they shipped goods here, but our exporters paid an average of over 11 percent. The agreement removes that imbalance by eliminating Colombian duties. The need is urgent: Our exporters have paid nearly $4 billion in unnecessary duties since this agreement was signed.…”