Roy Blunt: “I wish to speak for a few minutes today about the bill that is on the floor, the amendment, in fact, to the general…”

“I wish to speak for a few minutes today about the bill that is on the floor, the amendment, in fact, to the general system of trade preferences bill. That amendment is trade adjustment assistance. Frankly, it is not a bill I would have drafted on my own, but my guess is neither would have the two people who negotiated the bill. This is a compromise between Chairman Camp in the House and the Senator from Montana here. It is a compromise that reflects exactly that. It is not what either one of them may have come up with, and certainly not what I would have come up with. But, based on the President's determination, it is essential to move on to the three trade agreements that have been waiting to be voted on for 3 years now. I intend to vote for this. I am looking carefully at the amendments. I am supportive of the two amendments we will vote on today. But if they would disrupt the balance of this agreement that has been made, I am going to look very carefully at that as these votes are cast. Certainly, I wish for this President and all of his successors to have trade promotion authority. I think we have seen the difficulty of the President being able to negotiate a treaty as an agreement. A trade agreement that comes to the Senate and that could be amended by the Senate and which takes two-thirds of the Senate to approve--those days are over.…”