Political Quotes

“the majority leader has entered a motion to reconsider the trade legislation. I want to be clear, both for the majority leader and all our colleagues here, that I am very interested in working with the majority leader and our colleague from the other side of the aisle to find a bipartisan path to get back to the trade legislation at the earliest possible time. This morning, 14 protrade Democrats met, and I can assure all the Senators here that these are Senators who are committed--strongly committed--to ensuring that this bill passes. Now, with respect to just another brief description about where we are, all the hard work that the majority leader correctly described as going on in connection with this legislation has been about four bills: the trade promotion act, Customs--which is really trade enforcement to help displaced workers--and then trade preferences for developing countries. Just briefly, I want to describe why it was so important for Senators on a bipartisan basis in the Finance Committee to tackle these issues. The first, trade promotion authority, helps strip the secrecy out of trade policy. The second is the support system for American workers. This is known as trade adjustment assistance, which has been expanded. The third finally puts our trade enforcement policies into high gear so America can crack down on the trade cheats. The fourth renews trade programs that are crucial to American manufacturers.…”