[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3603-S3604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FREE TRADE

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, as we move more to a global 
economy, I would note that the United States, over the course of time, 
has been a driver of economic prosperity because of the ingenuity of 
our people, because of the technological prowess we have, and because 
of the edge we have over many other countries in our competitiveness 
with regard to computers.
  I think back to when we were in the great space race, after the 
Soviets had surprised us by launching the first satellite Sputnik--we 
finally got Explorer up--and that shook the Nation to its core. Then 
suddenly, the Soviets surprised us again by getting into orbit with a 
human, Yuri Gagarin, before we could ever get off the pad with Alan 
Shepard trying to go into suborbit because we did not have a rocket 
that was strong enough to get that Mercury capsule up into orbit.

[[Page S3604]]

  So we went into suborbit with two flights before, then 10 months 
after, Gagarin. We finally launched John Glenn--a former Member of this 
body--into orbit aboard an Atlas rocket, and the space race was on. 
That was when there was that very significant leadership decision made 
by President Kennedy who said: We are going to the Moon and back in the 
decade; and America put its efforts behind its will to succeed, and we 
developed the technology which led us to get there and back safely 
before the Soviets did.
  Finally, the Soviets abandoned their efforts to go to the Moon with a 
human because they did not have the sophistication we had in our 
computer technology, sophistication that could help direct a spacecraft 
on reentry so that its trajectory could be such that human life would 
not be completely eliminated because of the G forces on a spacecraft on 
reentry.
  I give that as one illustration of America's creativity and 
inventiveness when we set our minds to it. Thus, in the globalization 
of our markets on trade, whatever the products may be, America has had 
an advantage. We use our educationally developed workforce, we develop 
technology, and that is what we are very good at: exporting around the 
world. Thus, there is every reason for America to want to be engaged in 
international trade as long as it is free and fair trade. I am a free 
trader. That is how I usually will vote. That is how I usually voted as 
a Member of the House of Representatives over a 12-year period of 
public service.

  We are confronting an aspect of trade that concerns me because it is 
not free and fair. It is going to affect one of the major economic 
interests in my State of Florida. Many States have automobile license 
tags indicating something of particular interest to each State. So it 
is with the Florida automobile license tag. We have an image of an 
orange emblazoned on our license tag, which is reflective of the 
considerable pride we have as well as the economic dominance of our 
Florida citrus industry.
  That industry is threatened. Its very existence is threatened. Frozen 
concentrated Orange Juice production in Florida, is facing a life or 
death situation. I hope that as I continue to make speeches about the 
threat to this industry, that the White House is listening to a State 
that is very important to this White House. It was Florida, as we all 
know, that won the Presidency. There is a lot at stake in our State. It 
has to do with this trade bill.
  Free and fair trade could quickly turn into a monopoly of trade for 
Brazil on frozen orange juice concentrate. It could turn into a 
monopoly because Brazil produces approximately 50 percent of the world 
production of frozen orange juice concentrate. Florida produces 40 
percent of the world production. That 40 percent supplies the domestic 
market for orange juice. Indeed, it has been the Florida Citrus 
Commission advertising over the last half century that now causes 
orange juice to be a staple on breakfast tables in America.
  We find growers in Brazil forming, in essence, a cartel, which can 
start dumping extra product on the market, undercutting the price for 
Florida, and running Florida out of the business if there isn't a 
tariff protecting our domestic market from the invasion of Brazilian 
frozen orange juice.
  That brings me to the trade bill. The trade bill puts that protective 
tariff at risk, unless we can attach an amendment to the bill offered 
by Senator Graham and myself, an amendment that would not apply just to 
orange juice but to other commodities, as well. The amendment says if 
there is an order in place by either the International Trade Commission 
or the Department of Commerce, an order in place indicating that there 
is anticompetitive behavior, then you cannot reduce the tariff until 
after that order is taken off.
  That is common sense. If there is anticompetitive behavior, in the 
form of dumping, and therefore trying to run down the price by dumping, 
that is not free and fair trade. Or if there is another type of order 
from the Department of Commerce in place, a countervailing duty order 
that says a foreign government is subsidizing that product of that 
foreign country in order to give them a competitive advantage, that, in 
essence, is anticompetitive market behavior. If that kind of order is 
in place, you cannot reduce the tariff until those two respective 
organizations--the International Trade Commission and the Department of 
Commerce--have removed their orders.
  It does not have to be orange juice. It could be steel. It could be 
honey in a State like Montana. It could be salmon production from the 
Pacific Northwest. It could be any of these products on which there are 
orders against foreign competitors that have been participating in 
anticompetitive activities. That is why we have the protection of these 
orders from either the International Trade Commission or the Department 
of Commerce. Until those orders are lifted because the anticompetitive 
behavior of the foreign companies disappears, we cannot reduce the 
tariff.

  It is my hope the good common sense of this type of approach will be 
recognized by the administration. They think they have the votes to 
pass the trade promotion authority bill in this body--they may--but I 
am going to keep raising this issue. Somebody needs to keep raising it. 
Then, again, maybe they don't have the votes. Or maybe they don't have 
the votes within the timeframe they think they have.
  It is a matter of ultimate fairness of free and fair competition in 
the global marketplace that we are trying to achieve at the end of the 
day, which is free and fair trade. Thus, I wanted to bring to the 
attention of the Senate and the White House my renewed plea on behalf 
of Senator Graham and myself, with regard to the interests of the 
Florida citrus industry, that the administration should be willing to 
work with Congress to accept this amendment for the protection of free 
and fair and truly competitive international trade.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. EDWARDS. I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to speak for up to 
3 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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