[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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