Max Baucus: “I make that request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. McCAIN. I thank my friend from…”

“I make that request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. McCAIN. I thank my friend from Montana. The Senator from North Dakota just stated, Who pays? I wonder, who pays when my wife goes to the supermarket and pays 13 cents more for a pound of sugar than she does and would if we had sugar from these countries able to come into this country? I am not in the business of producing or selling sugar, nor are many American families. But there are a whole lot of American families who are in the business of buying products that have sugar in them. They pay an exorbitantly higher price because of the protectionism that is practiced for the sugar industry. Since when can't the United States compete on a level playing field? The opposition to this is clearly one that is protectionist in nature--for an industry that, in my view, should be able to compete with foreign producers. That is not what this debate really should be all about. The stakes could hardly be higher--whether we import or export sugar, whether the Central American Free Trade Agreement passes has implications, whether the American farm exports will enter the Dominican Republic duty free, or whether Guatemala will be able to increase its textile protection. By the way, I say to the Presiding Officer, if Guatemala is unable to export its textiles into the United States, I don't believe it will be the United States that would be producing textiles; I believe it will be the Chinese and others.…”