[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 135 (Friday, September 23, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


         IN SUPPORT OF JOBS THROUGH TRADE EXPANSION ACT OF 1994

                                 ______


                          HON. MARIA CANTWELL

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 23, 1994

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
4950, the Jobs Through Trade Expansion Act of 1994.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the honorable member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, Mr. Hamilton, for bringing this bill to the floor, and want 
to thank the sponsor of this bill, Chairman Gejdenson, for his 
outstanding, bipartisan work on this measure. I also want to thank my 
good friend, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy, 
Trade, and the Environment, Mr. Roth, for his hard work and bipartisan 
support of this measure.
  This is an important bill that will create at least 100,000 new jobs 
for American workers and is another step in the right direction toward 
boosting export promotion abroad.
  The Jobs Through Trade Expansion Act will expand the financing and 
insurance available to the Overseas Private Investment Corp., which has 
been extraordinarily successful in helping U.S. companies find overseas 
markets and investment opportunities. This bill also expands the Trade 
and Development Agency, which helps American companies get in on the 
ground floor of overseas construction projects. TDA estimates 
conservatively that for every dollar disbursed, $25 is returned to the 
U.S. economy.
  H.R. 4590 also strengthens environmental export promotion by 
including language identical to Chairman Gejdenson's Environmental 
Export Promotion Act. Given that the worldwide environmental 
technologies market is expected to grow from approximately $270 billion 
today to as much as $600 billion by the year 2000. Unless an 
intelligent and aggressive export strategy is developed, American 
strength in the environmental sector could be eroded by international 
competitors. This legislation will make it easier and more efficient 
for small- and medium-sized businesses to export environmental 
technology overseas.
  Finally, this legislation will help U.S. exporters with intellectual 
property problems in overseas markets. By establishing a training and 
technical assistance program, H.R. 4950 will target countries who have 
expressed a willingness to improve enforcement of intellectual property 
rights, but which lack the expertise or resources to do so.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4950 is a progressive, cooperative government 
program that will result in increased U.S. exports, strengthen our 
competitive position in the world, and create more high-wage jobs for 
American workers. I again commend the chairman for his hard work on 
this bill and strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this 
important legislation.

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