[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 27 (Thursday, March 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2187-S2188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       MISCELLANEOUS TRADE AND TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS ACT OF 2003

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 43, S. 671.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 671) to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
     the United States to modify temporarily certain rates of 
     duty, to make other technical amendments to the trade laws, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to comment on a bill that 
has traveled a long and difficult journey to get to the floor today; S. 
671, the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003, 
commonly called the miscellaneous tariff bill.
  In fact, this bill's journey began nearly 2 years ago. The Senate 
historically passes a miscellaneous tariff bill at the end of every 
Congress. The bill under consideration today was supposed to have been 
passed at the end of the 107th Congress. However, a markup scheduled 
for September 26, 2002 was cancelled, leaving the bill as unfinished 
business for the current Congress. Upon resuming the chairmanship of 
the Finance Committee, my intention was to complete unfinished business 
from the 107th Congress as quickly as possible. To that end we passed 
the bill out of the Senate Finance Committee by voice vote on February 
27, 2003. It was hoped that early passage of this bill would pave the 
way for consideration of another miscellaneous tariff bill in the 108th 
Congress. But that was not meant to be.
  Traditionally, miscellaneous tariffs bills are non-controversial and 
pass the Senate by unanimous consent. Sometimes there are attempts to 
load the bill down with costly and controversial items, which is why we 
didn't produce a bill in the 107th Congress. That's also the reason 
this bill was delayed this Congress. Contrary to traditional practice, 
a few Senators insisted on adding unrelated and controversial 
provisions. Unless we agreed to add these controversial provisions, 
these Senators would not allow the full Senate to consider the bill. In 
effect, a few Senators have held this legislation hostage for months 
for their own parochial purposes. And that is truly sad and 
disappointing. I hope these members know that they have all but 
guaranteed the end to this process.
  This package contains many trade provisions, primarily duty 
suspensions, reductions and extensions, for products that are not 
produced domestically. This bill supports American factories and 
workers by allowing manufacturers to save money when they import these 
products. At this stage in America's economic recovery, we must give 
every opportunity to our manufacturers to reduce costs and pass the 
savings on to consumers.
  A product generally must meet three tests to be eligible for 
inclusion in a miscellaneous trade bill: first, it must be non-
controversial and non-competitive, that is there can be no domestic 
producer who objects to inclusion of the provisions. Second, the 
product should be intended to benefit U.S. downstream producers, that 
is someone who utilizes the product in manufacturing. Third, the volume 
of imports and corresponding revenue loss should be relatively small. 
To ensure that the provisions in this bill met that this test, each 
provision went through an extensive vetting process including a public 
notice and comment period to ensure that they were eligible for 
inclusion in the bill. This process began during the first session of 
the 107th Congress.
  The bill also contains a number of liquidations or reliquidations for 
certain entries. The general rule for inclusion here is that the 
product entered the country under an incorrect duty rate due to Customs 
or other administrative error. These provisions allow those entries to 
enter the country at the correct duty rate.
  We also included in this bill a provision that extends preferences 
under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to allow duty-free 
treatment for hand-knotted and hand-woven carpets. This provision is 
designed primarily to help the citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan. I 
believe that allowing these products to be considered as eligible 
articles under GSP, will help beneficiary countries that have joined 
the United States in the fight against global terrorism. With respect 
to Afghanistan, which is rebuilding and looking for opportunities for 
its people, this provision is needed now more than ever.
  Another important provision in this bill corrects a mistake in the 
Trade Act of 2002, P.L. 107-210, that inadvertently and temporarily 
raised duties on Andean originating handbags, luggage, flat goods, work 
gloves and leather wearing apparel under the Andean Trade and 
Preferences and Drug Eradication Act, ATPDEA. This provision 
retroactively reinstates the reduced duty treatment for eligible 
products that entered the United States from August 6, 2002, the date 
ATPDEA was signed, and the time in which these products met the import 
sensitivity test, several months later. It provides for continued duty-
free treatment for these eligible products, which was the intent of the 
Trade Act.

[[Page S2188]]

  I am also pleased that the bill includes the Emergency Protection for 
Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2003. I introduced the EPIC 
Antiquities Act of 2003 to authorize the President to impose immediate 
emergency import restrictions on the archaeological and ethnological 
materials of Iraq. The purpose of this bill is simple--to close a legal 
loophole which could allow looted Iraqi antiquities to be brought into 
the United States.
  If Congress does not act to provide the means for establishing an 
interim ban on trade, the door may be opened to imports of looted Iraqi 
antiquities into the United States. Already the press has reported 
allegations that European auction houses have traded in looted Iraqi 
antiquities. The last thing that we in Congress want to do is to fail 
to act to prevent trade in looted artifacts here in the United States.
  Also included in the package is a provision that simplifies the U.S. 
Customs Service's ability to process commercial importations, thereby 
resulting in increased efficiency and productivity for both Customs and 
the trade community.
  I want to point out that the provisions I have covered are not the 
only important provisions contained in this bill. This bill makes a 
number of other technical yet meaningful changes to our trade laws.
  While I am very disappointed some members have delayed the passage of 
this bill, and even tried to kill this bill with controversial 
provisions, I would like to thank my colleagues who respected the 
traditional rules governing this important legislation. I appreciate 
their support.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Grassley-Baucus amendment at the desk be agreed to and that the bill, 
as amended, be read the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2678) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The bill (S. 671), as amended, was read the third time.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 51, H.R. 1047, the 
House companion bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1047) to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 
     of the United States to modify temporarily certain rates of 
     duty, to make other technical amendments to the trade laws, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all after 
the enacting clause be stricken and that the text of S. 671, as 
amended, be inserted. I further ask unanimous consent that H.R. 1047, 
as amended, be read the third time and passed; that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc; and that S. 671 be returned 
to the calendar.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H. R. 1047), as amended, was read the third time and 
passed, as follows:
  (The bill will be printed in a future edition of the Record.)

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