[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 161 (Monday, December 15, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2410-E2411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECIPROCAL TRADE AGREEMENT AUTHORITIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. JAY KIM

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mr. KIM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2621, the Reciprocal 
Trade Agreement Authorities Act, a bill to renew the President's 
authority to negotiate international trade

[[Page E2411]]

agreements through an expedited procedure known as fast track.
  Fast track is a tool with which the President can negotiate 
international trade agreements. It is not a tool for the President to 
circumvent Congress and implement agreements. Congress retains its 
constitutional authority to approve any trade agreement brought under 
fast track, and maintains its responsibility to write and approve 
legislation to implement that agreement. I want to stress this 
important point: Congress still must approve or disapprove any new 
trade agreement reached as a result of fast track negotiations.
  Fast track is a tool that the President will use to negotiate trade 
agreements to open foreign markets for U.S. exports. Exports are a 
crucial sector of the U.S. economy, particularly in southern 
California. Last year alone, California exported $104 billion in goods. 
California exports support 1.5 million jobs, a number which is expected 
to grow at 100,000 per year. These are high-growth, well-paying jobs, 
with wages paying 13 to 16 percent more than nontrade related jobs. The 
President will use fast track to open up foreign markets for our 
exports, which will, in turn, create even more of these high-paying 
jobs. This is extremely important to the continued growth of the U.S. 
economy in general, and California's economy specifically.
  The President will use this authority to open foreign markets for 
U.S. manufactured and agricultural products. These trade agreements 
will be designed to lower foreign tariff rates and barriers to entry in 
order to make our products more competitive in foreign marketplaces. If 
we are unable to negotiate these agreements, tariffs on our goods will 
remain high, and consumers in foreign markets will be unwilling to buy 
U.S. products that are made and grown in our districts.
  I am extremely disappointed that labor and environmental 
organizations are erroneously characterizing fast track as a new trade 
agreement lacking sufficient labor and environmental protections. I 
cannot repeat enough times: fast track is simply a negotiating process 
under which the President negotiates trade agreements--with the 
constant advice and oversight of Congress--that Congress must approve 
in order to become law.
  It is also important to recognize that fast track does not, I repeat 
does not, preclude the President from addressing environmental and 
labor concerns in any trade agreement, so long as those labor and 
environmental concerns are related to trade. The fact is, we encourage 
the President to address these issues, especially those which hurt the 
competitiveness of our exports abroad.
  I also want to point out that this is not a partisan issue: every 
President in the last 20 years has had fast-track authority. Democrat-
controlled Congresses have granted the authority to Republican 
Presidents and vice versa. Every president since Gerald Ford has had 
fast-track authority to negotiate trade agreements. Without this 
authority, no foreign countries will enter into trade negotiations with 
the United States.
  Finally, I want to make clear that granting fast track does not give 
the President a blank check to expand NAFTA. Any new trade agreement--
including NAFTA parity for countries in Central and South America--must 
still come before Congress for approval and implementation. If Congress 
feels that a trade deal is not in the United States' best interest, 
Congress will vote it down.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. If we do not 
grant our President fast-track negotiating authority, we will only 
serve to hurt ourselves. Export markets will dry up, and we will lose 
all those U.S. jobs associated with exports. Please vote for fair U.S. 
trade. Please vote for U.S. jobs. Please vote for fast track.

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