Joe Crowley: “Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to use the term ``slam dunk'' any more, but if you cannot agree with this trade agreement, I do…”

“Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to use the term ``slam dunk'' any more, but if you cannot agree with this trade agreement, I do not know what trade agreement you are ever going to agree with. In fact, you would probably have to oppose agreements between the States of the United States. The fact is, of the $28 billion of trade with Australia, we enjoy a surplus of $9 billion. That means Australia is buying $9 billion more of goods and services from us than we are buying from them. The fact is that this is generating jobs in the United States. Trade can do that and trade will do that. The fact is that there is $700 million of agricultural products that we are selling to Australia, and they are now going to be able to be purchased more cheaply because there will be duty free access. We have National Treatment for our U.S. investors, guaranteeing fair and non-discriminatory treatment. Who could be opposed to that? We have guaranteed, substantial access for U.S. service suppliers, telecom, financial services, professional service providers. Australia has agreed to improve its intellectual property laws so we do not have to worry about that. We are going to have the highest level of protection throughout the world for U.S. products in that area. Even more importantly to my Democratic colleagues, Australia has the highest level of labor and environmental standards. They are tougher than ours.”