Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding his time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule and the underlying trade promotion authority granted by H.R. 1314. As a member of the Rules Committee, I can affirm that the committee heard and seriously considered many amendments and concerns from both Democratic and Republican Members late into the night. This rule has been very fair, deliberative, and interested parties have been given ample opportunity to weigh in on it and on the underlying legislation. Mr. Speaker, as you just heard, I come from the State of Washington, which is the most trade-benefited State in the country. If my colleagues want to see the benefit trade brings and the jobs it creates, they only have to look at my State. We export coffee, aircraft, footwear, software--you name it. We also have an enormous agriculture industry. In Washington, we export fully 30 percent of the apples we grow, more than 85 percent of the wheat, 75 percent of the hops. Right now, consumers around the world are enjoying a brand new crop of fresh Washington State cherries, but the trade success story I want to share with you today is about potatoes. Prior to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement that the Congress passed and the President signed in 2011, we shipped $53 million worth of french fries to South Korea. After that agreement was passed, that value rose to $83 million--a 57 percent increase in just 2 years-- largely attributed to the trade barriers that were lowered.…”