[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING EUROPEAN UNION

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Finance 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res. 73 
and, further, that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 73) expressing the 
     sense of Congress that the European Union is unfairly 
     restricting the importation of United States agriculture 
     products and the elimination of such restrictions should be a 
     top priority in trade negotiations with the European Union.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the concurrent resolution.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
concurrent resolution be agreed to; that the preamble be agreed to; 
that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any 
statements relating to the resolution appear at the appropriate place 
in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 73) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 73

         
       Whereas on a level playing field, United States producers 
     are the most competitive suppliers of agricultural products 
     in the world;
       Whereas increased United States agricultural exports are 
     critical to the future of the farm, rural, and overall 
     economy of the United States;
       Whereas the opportunities for increased agricultural 
     exports are undermined by the unfair subsidies provided by 
     trading partners of the United States, and by various tariff 
     and nontariff trade barriers imposed on highly-competitive 
     United States agricultural products;
       Whereas United States agricultural exports reached a 
     record-level $60,000,000,000 in 1996 compared to a total 
     United States merchandise trade deficit of $170,000,000,000;
       Whereas the United States is currently engaged in a number 
     of outstanding trade disputes with the European Union 
     regarding agriculture matters and the disputes involve the 
     most intractable issues between the United States and the 
     European Union;
       Whereas the outstanding trade disputes include the failure 
     to finalize a veterinary equivalency program, which 
     jeopardizes an estimated $3,000,000,000 in trade in livestock 
     products between the United States and the European Union;
       Whereas the World Trade Organization has ruled that the 
     European Union must allow the importation of beef with growth 
     hormones produced in the United States;
       Whereas the European Union has yet to fulfill its 
     commitment under the Agreement on Application of Sanitary and 
     Phytosanitary Measures reached as part of the General 
     Agreement on Tariffs and Trade;
       Whereas the European Union has promulgated regulations 
     regarding the use of ``specified risk materials'' for 
     livestock products which have a disputed scientific basis and 
     which serve to impede the importation of United States 
     livestock products despite the fact that no cases of bovine 
     spongisorm encephalopathy (mad cow disease) have been 
     documented in the United States;
       Whereas the European Union has hindered trade in products 
     grown with the benefit of biogenetics based on claims that 
     also have a disputed scientific basis;
       Whereas these barriers to biogenetic trade could have a 
     profound negative impact on agricultural trade in the long 
     run; and
       Whereas there are also continuing disputes regarding 
     European Union subsidies for dairy, wheat gluten, and canned 
     fruits: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the European Union unfairly restricts the importation 
     of United States agricultural products;
       (2) the restrictions imposed on United States agricultural 
     exports to the European Union are the most vexing problems 
     facing United States exporters in Europe;
       (3) the elimination of restrictions imposed on United 
     States agricultural exports should be a top priority of any 
     current or future trade negotiations between the United 
     States and the European Union; and
       (4) the United States Trade Representative should not 
     engage in any trade negotiations with the European Union that 
     undermines the ability of the United States to achieve the 
     elimination of unfair restrictions imposed upon United States 
     agricultural exports to the European Union.

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