Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan legislation to create jobs in America and to strengthen our relationship with a strong, long-standing ally in our hemisphere, Panama. Why wouldn't we sign this sales agreement? Panama is a growing market; almost a 9 percent growth in their economy and in a major way in our backyard. They are an economy that matches up beautifully with America. Most of its economy is the services sector, like the United States, and it provides brand new markets, new customers, not just for manufacturing, not just for agriculture, as important as they are, but for our services sector, which is critical to so many communities across this country. It's time to act now because we're falling behind. While America has been off the trade agenda, other countries have moved forward very aggressively. And Panama, recognizing its strategic importance and its economic growth, has signed similar sales agreements with Taiwan and Singapore, and with Europe and Canada, and many more are in line. Every day we wait, American manufacturers, American farmers, American technology companies lose out. Finally, Panama has done so much to tackle issues, like labor rights. They have strong commitment to labor rights, having recently passed under President Martinelli almost a dozen laws strengthening labor rights in Panama.…”