Political Quotes

“this amendment deals with another critical aspect of growing our economy. Certainly innovation and basic scientific research are the real drivers of long-term economic growth, but another very important aspect of that is international trade. The United States has the best workers in the world. We have the best entrepreneurs. We have the best innovators. We need to be in a position that we can continue to promote trade across the world. So I rise to offer an amendment that will support trade and travel through our U.S. ports of entry. As we all know, trade and travel drive economic development. In fact, they generate over $2 trillion in economic impact and support nearly 15 million jobs nationwide. However, it is unfortunate to say that many our busiest ports of entry are in need of modernization in order to safely and efficiently process travelers and goods. I speak about this with firsthand experience. In Michigan, our manufacturers and agricultural producers rely on efficient trade with Canada, which is our Nation's largest export market, our top customer, as well as our closest ally. However, existing infrastructure at our ports of entry often does not allow for the most efficient processing of trucks and cargo. We have two major crossings in Detroit--in Windsor, Canada, as well as Port Huron in Sarnia. Both of those trade areas need additional investment in their customs plazas to efficiently handle the trade between our two countries.…”