Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me start by thanking the senior Senator from Ohio for his generosity in allowing me to speak now. I also commend Senator Hatch, who has been a leader in expanding exports and therefore creating jobs for many years, and again he is standing today talking about the importance of us moving forward on a progrowth trade agenda, including giving the President the ability to have trade promotion authority. That is what I wish to talk about today. Senator McConnell, the Republican leader, introduced an amendment to the underlying legislation saying that, along with trade adjustment assistance, for the same 3 years there also be trade promotion authority given to this President, which all of his predecessors have had. That makes sense. The legislation in the amendment is actually identical to legislation I introduced my first week here in the Senate on a bipartisan basis with Senator Lieberman to provide the President with trade promotion authority. It is incredibly important. I think it goes without saying that we live in an increasingly interconnected world where the movement of goods and services and people across borders is part of our economy. It is very much an economy where the United States is connected to our global competitors. We are moving forward around the globe on various arrangements, export agreements at a rapid pace. Yet I am sorry to say the United States is simply not a part of that because we do not have trade promotion authority.…”