[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 160 (Thursday, October 2, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10503-S10504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ANDEAN TRADE PREFERENCE EXTENSION

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 7222, which was received 
from the House.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 7222) to extend the Andean Trade Preferences 
     Act, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, President John F. Kennedy said that ``if a 
free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few 
who are rich.''
  This week, Congress has worked hard on the American economy. No 
matter how grave our problems today, America remains the world's 
richest nation. Our domestic challenges are great. But ours remains a 
land of opportunity and prosperity.
  With our own economy in hard times, it is easy to forget the world's 
poorest. It is easy to forget that more than a billion people around 
the world live on a dollar a day or less. Concerned about maintaining 
our own standard of living, we can forget that the wealth of too many 
consists of little more than the clothes on their backs and the few 
coins in their pockets.
  The legislation that we consider today proves we are not an island--
economically or morally. Today's legislation accomplishes four key 
objectives. It extends the Generalized System of Preferences for 1 
year, extends the Andean Trade Preferences Act for 6 months to 1 year, 
with safeguards to ensure that Bolivia and Ecuador comply with that 
program's rules, affords the Dominican Republic enhanced access to the 
U.S. market in a way that benefits U.S. producers, and allows our trade 
preference program with Africa--known as AGOA--to work better.
  I am proud that, by considering and passing this legislation, America 
again proves that we are still capable of thinking of others. By acting 
on this bill, Americans underscore that those who do not share our 
wealth must not be denied hope for a better life. By extending our 
trade preference programs, Americans reaffirm the fundamental belief 
that the world's poor are no less human than we are, and they deserve a 
fair shake for a hard day's work.
  America has crafted trade preference programs for those hundreds of 
millions of poor around the world, not with a handout, but with a leg 
up. These preference programs offer more than 130 countries a way out 
of extreme poverty--poverty that is not just morally repugnant, but 
politically destabilizing. Our GSP and ATPA programs give developing 
country workers a living, rewards productive investment, and grants 
better access to America's market.
  The benefits of these programs are mutual and create jobs that earn 
good wages in Montana and the rest of the country. Retail and 
transportation jobs in America depend on flower exports from Ecuador 
and Colombia. We sell American cotton to Andean and Dominican textile 
buyers who turn it into fabric and apparel. American manufacturers rely 
on imports from GSP beneficiaries to lower input costs on electrical 
parts and building materials. And American consumers benefit from lower 
priced products from diamond rings to tires.
  Our preference programs are not perfect. My colleagues and I are 
concerned that our preference programs may help those who do not need 
or deserve our help. We are concerned that certain beneficiary 
countries boast globally competitive industries and wealthy owners. We 
are concerned that certain beneficiary countries show disdain for 
America's foreign policies and do not provide adequate protections for 
the American companies operating in those countries.
  Yet I recognize that the good and prosperity of the many cannot be 
sacrificed to punish the few. The inappropriate actions of a few cannot 
lead us to inaction that hurts the many and throws entire economies 
into a spiral of insecurity and poverty.
  This legislation on our preference programs is no blank check. Our 
preference programs require beneficiary countries to protect U.S. 
investment and intellectual property and to provide workers with 
internationally recognized worker rights. Our programs provide the 
administration with the flexibility to work within the program in order 
to determine whether or not to designate a country a beneficiary 
country. And when beneficiary countries do not abide by these 
eligibility criteria, they must be held responsible. I commend the 
administration for launching an ATPA review of Bolivia to ensure that 
it continues to abide by the eligibility criteria.
  Our preference programs also contain measures to make sure that 
developing countries that become globally competitive graduate to 
operate under the same terms as the rest of America's trading partners.
  These policies are not perfect. No policy this body passes is static. 
Every policy requires review and reevaluation to make sure it works how 
it should, for whom it should. As chairman of the Finance Committee, I 
am committed with my colleagues to reviewing and reevaluating our trade 
preference programs to make them work better for Americans and our 
trading partners.
  Let us do things the right way, the American way, and extend our 
preference programs.
  Mr. LEVIN. I ask unanimous consent that a Reid substitute amendment 
at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time 
and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the 
bill be printed in the Record.

[[Page S10504]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 5695) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill read a third 
time.
  The bill (H.R. 7222), as amended, was read the third time, and 
passed.
  Mr. LEVIN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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