Projects like this are critical for our mobility, our economic strength, particularly in our region, our security, and our safety.

it has a national security imperative

I am glad to hear that. I know that you will have to run after me on that part, so I look forward to working with you on that issue.

I hope that today's last-minute hearing is not a sign that TPA will be forced through this committee without the open, broadly germane opportunity to first consider the bill.

I think a barrier to trade is also the inability to enforce the provisions of our trade agreements, which I think have sadly not gone in the direction that I would like to see.

I am concerned that we are rushing too quickly to fast-track trade agreements that will have major economic consequences.

I think we all have the same goal in mind, and that is jobs for our families and markets for our businesses that together build a stronger American economy.

At the same time, it can be tempting to blame regulation for broader market challenges or to use unrelated problems as a pretext for rolling back consumer or financial stability protections.

For me, trade bills have been about protecting and providing opportunities for my State's workers and our businesses, in a world where competition is not always fair and it is not always open.

if we agree that trade is an issue with major domestic and geo-strategic implications for the United States, then we should at the very least have another hearing after reading a TPA bill, which presently is not before the committee.

While many of us do not know yet how we will judge the final Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, I am sure you know that one of my priorities remains that we reach 12 years of data protection for biologics within TPP, as currently…

Well, I agree you need the right standards. But even when we have had standards that some of us might agree to, we have not had the enforcement mechanisms that actually pursue it.