Political Quotes

“today we take an important step forward in developing a comprehensive 21st century trade policy, recognizing that the benefits of trade cannot be measured solely in the volume of commerce that crosses international borders. A modern trade policy considers the impact of trade on workers and the environment, and this pact does that. Yet we have not fully achieved the goal of effective safeguards, and I believe that we are taking a step in the right direction; we're just not quite to the final destination. I believe it is better to approve this agreement as a step of genuine progress than to reject it. This agreement includes unprecedented action to prevent illegal logging that is decimating rainforests in South America. For the first time in this agreement, environmental infractions can be enforced with something that is more than a mere parking ticket. That's what was done in prior agreements where governments wrote fines to themselves no matter how great the environmental degradation. And today, finally, we have recognition in this trade agreement of the importance of multilateral environmental agreements that have been totally disregarded in previous trade pacts. So this is real progress.…”