Kevin Brady: “Mr. Speaker, this bill is good for America, it is good for the Andes, and it is good for anyone who is concerned about…”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill is good for America, it is good for the Andes, and it is good for anyone who is concerned about more jobs and better jobs, and about the environment and labor here in America and around the world. In the last decade, because of this new trade between America and the Andes, we have created 140,000 new jobs in the Andean region, jobs that used to be dependent on drug trafficking but now are dependent on a real economy. As a country like America knows, we have had so many in our families destroyed by drug trafficking here and at home, so every effort we can do to replace that and stem that offshore is good for us. In Colombia, for example, we have seen the flower industry become a model industry, initiating antiviolence training programs, helping people buy new homes, leading a 'greener Colombia' effort. These are model industries for worker rights and the environment they have never done before. They can do more and want to have more model industries, and we hold them back, because only 10 percent of the goods from the Andes are eligible for ATPA benefits. We need to expand them, because in the end, competition is not only good for America, but it is our future, as well.”