On the recordJanuary 9, 2014
if I might ask one more question very briefly, and that is this. One more opportunity here with trade promotion authority--with trade promotion authority, clearly we are going to get a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, and without trade promotion authority, we won't. Other countries will go their ways in the Pacific and wonder, where is the United States? There is another issue in addition to that. I wonder whether my good friend would agree with this. Not only does trade promotion authority enable our country to negotiate trade agreements with the Pacific-- TPP--but isn't it also true that it allows the United States, with the passage of the TPA, to negotiate with European countries? And doesn't that mean that between Asia TPP and TTIP with the European countries, that it is about 70 percent of world trade and is an opportunity for the United States to lead in the harmonization of trade provisions and regulatory provisions not only in Asia and in the Pacific but also in Europe? It is an opportunity to lead? And if we don't pass TPA, is the United States squandering a huge opportunity to lead here in a way that would raise productivity and raise incomes not just in our country but in other countries of the world?
