On the recordSeptember 20, 2011
I strongly oppose the TAA amendment offered by my good friend and colleague from Montana, Chairman Baucus. Before I get into the specifics, I think it is important to put this debate in context. For years I have been working to ensure that our pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea receive fair consideration in the Senate. Unfortunately, while I worked to get these agreements approved, others placed obstacles in the way. As a result, days, weeks, and months passed. Eventually those months turned into years. Now 4 years later, we are taking out the sixth renewal of trade adjustment assistance in the time these trade agreements languished. To me, it is highly ironic that we not only passed but expanded legislation to help workers who are allegedly harmed by trade agreements five times over the last 4 years, while we have yet to pass a single trade agreement. This March President Obama made himself perfectly clear: Unless Congress agreed to spend more money for this pet trade priority, he would never send a trade agreement to Congress and U.S. workers would never benefit from these agreements. Basically, the President held U.S. exporters hostage while he squeezed more spending out of Congress. Despite my deep disappointment in the President's failure to make these agreements a priority, I am pleased we are having this debate today.…
