On the recordMay 22, 2015
Thank you, Mr. President. I have been on the floor a number of times this week talking about the importance of trade and talking about the need for us to expand more exports around the world. The United States has not been in a position for 7 years to do that. That is why trade promotion authority is incredibly important to our workers, our farmers, and the people we represent. By doing so, we will give people a shot at actually increasing their salary and their family's income because trade jobs tend to pay better and have better benefits. In my home State of Ohio, 60 percent of our soybean crop is exported. We want to be sure those farmers have access to more markets. Twenty- five percent of our manufacturing jobs--factory jobs--are now trade jobs. So these exports are very important. Unfortunately, what has happened over the last 7 years is that as we try to sell our products and our services to the 95 percent of the world outside of our borders, it is getting harder because other countries are concluding trade agreements with each other. So during this time when the United States has basically been sitting on the sidelines, other countries have negotiated trade-opening agreements. This means lowering tariffs and nontariff barriers, actually taking market share away from us that we would otherwise have. So this is an important issue. If you are for jobs, you should be for exports. You should be for the U.S.…
