David Obey: “2 weeks ago the House passed the bill on China trade policy. I did not support that bill; the majority did. I am not…”

“2 weeks ago the House passed the bill on China trade policy. I did not support that bill; the majority did. I am not here to enter into another argument about what we should have done on that bill, but I do believe if we are going to enter into that type of trade relationship with China, or any other country, that we have to rigorously enforce the agreement to ensure the full benefit for American companies, American workers, and American farmers. The problem is that this appropriations bill, which is produced by the majority party, which pushed so hard for eliminating the application of Jackson-Vanik to China, provides no additional funding to the agencies charged with oversight, monitoring and enforcement of that trade agreement. The office of U.S. Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture simply need additional resources to make sure that the Chinese implement and comply with that signed agreement. They have a record of not complying; and without vigilant monitoring and enforcement of that agreement by American agencies, U.S. workers, companies and consumers will have no assurance that they are going to receive the benefits that they are allegedly going to receive under that proposition. The administration's request for the trade compliance initiative was a modest $22 million in total to support compliance efforts with China and to more rigorously enforce ongoing trade agreements.”