[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12549-S12550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FAST TRACK

  Mr. ROTH. Madam President, a little over a week ago, I stood to 
introduce the Finance Committee's fast track bill. On that occasion, I 
made it clear that fast track authority is important to America's 
future. I advocated the need for American leadership if we are to make 
progress in expanding economic opportunities for individuals and 
families here at home.
  I emphasized that America has always been a trading nation. From 
colonial times to the creation of the post-World War II international 
economic order, the United States has pressed for open commerce, free 
of discriminatory preferences and trade-distorting barriers.
  From battles with Barbary pirates on the shores of Tripoli to the 
arduous negotiations that led to the signing of the Uruguay round 
agreements in Marrakesh, Morocco, we have promoted and defended open, 
fair, and unfettered trade.
  The United States has been a driving force for expanding world trade 
and the prosperity it yields, particularly over the last six decades. 
From the creation of the GATT, to the initiation of each successive 
round of multilateral trade negotiations, to the political will to 
conclude the Uruguay round, America has taken the lead.
  We have pursued this course in our own economic and political self-
interest. In purely economic terms, the United States is the world's 
largest trading state and the largest beneficiary of the international 
trading system. We lead the world in both exports and imports.
  Thirty percent of our current annual economic growth depends on 
exports. Eleven million jobs are directly tied to those export sales.
  According to the Federal Reserve, our two-way trade, both exports and 
imports, have played a major role in the 7 years of sustained, 
noninflationary economic growth we enjoy today. And no other nation in 
the world is so well positioned to bless its citizens through open 
trade than America. Our Nation, better than any other, is situated to 
succeed in a global economy.
  We have the diversity of cultures, the most advanced technology, the 
most efficient capital markets, and a corporate sector that is 
constantly innovating and has already gone through substantial 
restructuring that is necessary for global competition. We have a 
single currency, a common language, and the important blessing of 
geography: we are a nation--a continent--that looks both to Europe and 
to Asia.
  No other nation is so well positioned to reap the blessings of a 
global economy. As Thomas L. Friedman suggested in the New York Times, 
America, as a nation, almost appears to have been designed to compete 
in such a world.
  Having said this, let me be clear that we have not pursued the goal 
of liberalizing trade solely because it is in our own economic interest 
to do so. We have pursued that goal because it is in our political and 
security interests as well.
  It is worth noting, in the shadow of the Veterans Day remembrance, 
that conflicts over trade in the 1930's deepened the Great Depression 
profoundly and fostered the political movements that gave us the Second 
World War. Our own revolution was fought in large part because of the 
constraints Great Britain imposed on the colonies' trade. Indeed, it is 
difficult to recall any great conflict in which trade did not play a 
part.
  In my view, prosperity is the surest means to secure peace, both 
because it strengthens our capacity to maintain our defense and because 
it reduces the causes of conflicts that lead to war.
  In this Chamber, we have had a spirited debate that has raised a 
number of significant issues--from alleged flaws in our trade 
agreements, to the causes and consequences of the trade deficit, to the 
issues of labor standards and the environment. We have benefited from 
this exchange of views on both sides. And, I was heartened by the vote 
in the Senate to move to proceed to debate the Finance Committee's bill 
extending fast track negotiating authority--a vote that commanded a 
majority of Members from both sides of the aisle.
  As heartened as I was by our vote, I was as disappointed in the 
President's decision to ask that the measure not be put to a vote in 
the House. It is clear, from all reports, that the President was unable 
to move a sufficient number of Members of his own party to join in the 
effort to promote American economic and political interests abroad.
  My first thought on hearing of the President's decision, however, was 
not about the past. My first thought was for the future.
  I say this because I happen to believe that we are on the edge of an 
era of unparalleled prosperity, not just in the United States, but 
throughout the world. But the realization of such prosperity will 
depend on conditions. It will depend on our making the right kinds of 
choices.
  It will depend on our ability to advance the cause of open markets 
and the freedom to compete fairly throughout the world.
  Walter Lippman coined the term the ``American Century'' to apply to 
the decades from the turn of the century during which the United States 
grew to a position of unrivaled economic, political, and cultural 
strength. I happen to believe that we are now entering a second 
``American Century,'' if we have the courage to embrace the challenges 
and opportunities of international leadership that our greater destiny 
offers us.
  We will not advance our own cause if we shirk that responsibility. 
Nor will we serve the generations of Americans that follow us if we 
shrink from an expansive vision of what we can accomplish together if 
we, as Americans, remain united in a common purpose.
  In the abstract and arcane world of international trade, there is 
little that is not subject to debate and differing points of view. One 
exception, however, is that for the world to make progress, the United 
States must lead.
  This is the essence of the fast track debate--whether we would offer 
the President the means by which he can exercise American leadership on 
the trade front. Absent fast track, he will not have a seat at the 
table. The rules of the road will be written without our full 
participation. History tells us that, when that happens, the world does 
not move in the direction of open, unfettered commerce, but in the 
direction of preferential trading systems often designed to exclude the 
United States.
  There are a series of negotiations on the horizon within the WTO and 
other forums. They will redefine the rules in areas like agriculture, 
financial services, and basic customs rules applicable to every product 
imported into, or exported from, the United States.
  They will proceed without us and in a direction we will not like if 
the President lacks the authority to engage and lead. And if that is 
the case, we are certain to lose a great deal. For example, Charlene 
Barshefsky reminds us that in the area of negotiating market access to 
government procurement, there is over a trillion dollars at stake in 
Asia alone. In services, there is over a $1.2 trillion global market, 
and in agriculture over $600 billion.
  I doubt whether the farmers of America will believe that it will be a 
sufficient response to say that we failed to act on fast track because 
we did not understand the true cause of our trade deficit and therefore 
left it to others to define the rules that will govern our agricultural 
trade into the 21st century.
  For that reason--for what is at stake for Americans, for our 
families, for

[[Page S12550]]

jobs--high paying jobs--I want to see us return to the issue of trade 
negotiating authority in the coming session of Congress. I want to see 
both Houses of Congress move on as broad a front as possible to secure 
our economic future.
  Because of what is at stake, we must make progress where we can, 
regardless of how broad a consensus we can ultimately achieve. We need 
to address the reality of these impending items on the international 
agenda and define the strategy the United States will promote in each. 
That does not give us the luxury of waiting until a final consensus has 
been reached on every issue raised in our recent debates. We need to be 
able to make an impact now and I will be working with my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to ensure that we do.
  As for building a stronger bipartisan consensus for the long run on 
trade, my sense from our debates is that there are a number of 
important issues that need to be examined. They need to be examined in 
a way that would excise the politics and help us all understand the 
dynamics at work in an increasingly global economy. We need to develop 
a mechanism for addressing these issues, helping us resolve our 
collective concerns, and allowing us to move forward in a way that will 
benefit all working Americans. I intend to work closely with my 
colleagues toward this end in the coming months.
  Let me conclude with words of praise for each and every Member of 
this body. I believe that we have shown incredible leadership ourselves 
on an issue of the utmost importance to America.
  I know we share a common goal of a stronger American economy that 
benefits all working men and women. In the months ahead, let us unite 
in an effort to resolve the differences between ourselves in order to 
remove the roadblocks that stand between us and that common goal. Let 
us pull together in this coming session of Congress to redefine the 
debate in terms of the progress we can make together toward our 
ultimate objective.
  Based on the Senate's record in the past, I have great confidence 
that we can and will take that step forward to embrace a brighter 
American future. I thank my colleagues for their efforts over the 
recent weeks, and look forward to the opportunity to rejoin them in 
pursuit of the greater good for all Americans in this coming session.
  Mr. President, I make a point of order that a quorum is not present.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Grams). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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