Earl Blumenauer: “this Chamber has been dominated with discussion over the course of this week dealing with the limitations and the costs…”

“this Chamber has been dominated with discussion over the course of this week dealing with the limitations and the costs of the use of force in trying to secure international peace. Yet, there is another very critical area. As we attempt to work our will on issues around the globe, we are finding it more and more difficult to gain leverage with other countries as we are dealing with issues that deal with economic sanctions. Our efforts are made all the more difficult by signals coming from inside this Chamber encouraging America to retreat from its role as the world's only remaining superpower. It is time for us to take a step back and reshape our thinking about how we can apply sanctions that are more in tune with what actually happens in the world. Well-intentioned sanctions are becoming less and less effective if we do it on an unilateral basis. Currently, it is estimated that half the world's population is subject to some sort of sanction on the part of the United States. Yet it is estimated that only one-fifth of the programs that we have applied previously in the last 20 years achieved their intended goals. The Institute for Economic Analysis estimated that unilateral sanctions have a very real cost for Americans and our businesses, perhaps as much as $20 billion per year in lost opportunities, which translates into a potential job loss of 200,000 American jobs.”