Rob Portman: “I want to support the fair rule that the Committee on Rules has come up with today. This is about whether the World…”

“I want to support the fair rule that the Committee on Rules has come up with today. This is about whether the World Trade Organization, the WTO that was talked about previously, which is the international organization charged with resolving trade disputes between nations, will work as we have promised it would. If Members will recall, this is the highly touted WTO agreement that this Congress approved just 4 years ago, calling it, among other things, 'A vital tool for eliminating the remaining trade barriers facing U.S. farmers and ranchers,' which is at stake here. I voted for the WTO, and I sold it to my constituents on the basis it would resolve these disputes, as did most Members of this House on both sides of the aisle. A majority on both sides of the aisle stood up here and said we are finally going to get to the point, finally, where we are resolving these trade disputes and forcing our trading partners, almost all of whom are more protectionist than us, to comply with international dispute resolution panels.”