Max Baucus: “I support strongly the nomination of Charlene Barshefsky as U.S. Trade Representative. Why is that? Although the Senator…”

“I support strongly the nomination of Charlene Barshefsky as U.S. Trade Representative. Why is that? Although the Senator from South Carolina raises very important issues--and I underline that; they are extremely important--I think we can't wait. We have very important trade issues facing us at the moment. We have a superb candidate in Charlene Barshefsky, who is awaiting confirmation. I believe we have no alternative, no choice, but to do the right thing. And the right thing is to get on with it, let her get on with the job, and let's confirm her as our USTR. At the appropriate time, at a later moment, we will take up the issues raised by the Senator from South Carolina, and they are very important issues indeed. I might remind everyone that our international trade is growing dramatically. When Congress created the position of USTR just over 20 years ago, imports and exports, together, made up only about one-eighth of the U.S. economy. Today, international trade makes up nearly a full third of our economy. That is a dramatic increase, from one-eighth to one-third, in just over 20 years. Last year, exports of goods and services reached a total of $835 billion, and in agriculture, which is the largest industry in my State of Montana, we saw exports hit $60 billion last year.”