[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 28, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2761-S2762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY):
  S. 3275. A bill to extend the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, 
to provide customs support services to Haiti, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, one of Aesop's Fables teaches us, ``In 
union there is strength.''
  In 2009, Haiti's future was beginning to strengthen. A U.S. trade 
preference program, known as the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity 
through Partnership Encouragement Act, or HOPE II, created incentives 
to increase textile and apparel production in Haiti. As a result, 
Haiti's textile and apparel sector was growing, creating new jobs and a 
viable economic future.
  But on January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude 
earthquake that took hundreds of thousands of lives, left a million 
people homeless, and shattered Haiti's burgeoning economy. As Haiti 
recovers from this devastation, we must unite with our neighbor to help 
provide the strength that it needs to recover and rebuild.
  Today, Senator Grassley and I introduce the Haiti Economic Lift 
Program Act of 2010--the HELP Act--to strengthen Haiti's path to 
economic recovery. Congressmen Levin, Camp, and Rangel are also 
introducing a companion bill in the House.
  The HELP Act would build on the success of the HOPE Act by expanding 
access to the U.S. market for textile and apparel products from Haiti. 
As a result, it would create incentives for immediate and long-term 
private investment in Haiti, which would in turn create sustainable 
jobs and a stable economy. The HELP Act would also extend all of our 
trade preference programs for Haiti to 2020, ensuring that Haiti could 
rely on these tariff benefits as it plans its own economic future.
  As we considered the needs of Haiti, we were also watchful of the 
needs of our domestic textile industry. We worked closely with the 
domestic industry for months to craft a bill that would not hurt our 
own workers, even as we help others.
  The HELP Act represents a landmark union among the Senate, the House, 
Democrats, Republicans, and the domestic textile industry to help Haiti 
recover from its devastation. This union resulted in an unprecedented 
bill that will help Haiti emerge from the earthquake stronger than 
ever.
  I urge my colleagues to join this union and quickly approve this 
legislation.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I have come to the floor to speak about 
a bill that Senator Baucus and I have introduced today. It's called the 
Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010.
  The purpose of our bill is to help Haiti recover from the devastation 
it suffered in the massive earthquake that struck the country in 
January.
  How we respond to natural disasters says a lot about ourselves, 
whether it's flooding in Iowa or an earthquake in Haiti.
  The idea behind the bill is simple. First, we extend current trade 
preferences for Haiti through fiscal year 2020, to provide more 
certainty for companies doing business either in Haiti or with Haitian 
partners.
  Second, we grant additional duty-free access to the U.S. market for 
targeted

[[Page S2762]]

categories of textile and apparel products. That will help to draw more 
investment into Haiti's economy and thereby promote long-term job 
creation, economic development, and political stability.
  Our bill is a bipartisan, bicameral compromise. It is the product of 
3 months of collaborative negotiations among the chairmen and ranking 
members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees and 
with representatives of the U.S. textile industry and the Haitians 
themselves.
  We also reached out to members of Congress who have constituent 
textile and apparel interests, to ensure that their concerns were 
addressed.
  Our ability to reach agreement on the bill is a testament to the good 
will and good faith of all those involved in our negotiations.
  The result reflects a careful balancing of interests, including 
Haiti's interest in spurring more investment in its economy, the 
interests of our trading partners in Central America in maintaining 
existing trade relationships, and our own domestic textile interests.
  We took special care to address the sensitivities of our domestic 
producers.
  In fact, I have a letter here from the two leading U.S. textile 
industry organizations. Their letter expresses support for our bill and 
encourages the Senate to pass the bill in an expeditious manner by 
unanimous consent.
  Finally, I want to make special mention of my colleagues from states 
with textile interests, and to thank them for their constructive input 
in developing this legislation.
  Without their engagement and support, we would not have arrived at 
the compromise bill that is being introduced today in both the Senate 
and the House of Representatives.
  This is a balanced bill that addresses an urgent priority in the 
Western Hemisphere.
  I ask my colleagues to give the bill their unanimous support when it 
comes before the Senate.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
                                                   April 26, 2010.
     Hon. Max Baucus,
     Chairman, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, Dirksen Senate 
         Office Building, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Charles Grassley,
     Ranking Member, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, Dirksen 
         Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley: As 
     representatives of the United States textile industry, we are 
     writing in regard to the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 
     2010, a bill to provide enhanced market access for apparel 
     products manufactured in Haiti.
       After lengthy negotiations with your staffs, we are pleased 
     that we were able to reach an acceptable compromise on this 
     important legislation. While the bill provides Haiti with a 
     path forward for long-term economic recovery in the wake of 
     its devastating earthquake, it also takes into account 
     various sensitivities from the perspective of the U.S. 
     textile industry.
       For example, the bill grants significant increases in duty 
     free treatment through a system of Tariff Preference Levels 
     (TPLs) but also institutes sub-limits on highly sensitive 
     products that can be exported under the TPLs. The sub-limits 
     were a key priority for the domestic industry and will 
     prevent over concentration of exports in one or two key areas 
     that could be particularly damaging to U.S. producers. In 
     addition, the bill extends the current Caribbean Basin Trade 
     Partnership Act (CBTPA) through 2020. This extension will 
     help to provide long-term certainty for a program that is of 
     significant value for U.S. and Western Hemispheric trading 
     partners.
       Obviously, we take very seriously the impact that 
     additional duty free imports may have on U.S. producers and 
     workers as well as our Western Hemispheric customers. Noting 
     those concerns, we also recognize that the devastating 
     circumstances in Haiti produced an exceptional case that 
     motivated Congress to develop a quick response and have 
     worked with the Committee to develop a package that strikes 
     an acceptable balance. We must stress, however, that this 
     package does not set a precedent for Any future trade 
     preference legislation.
       For all these reasons, we are encouraging our Congressional 
     members that represent the nearly 500,000 U.S. textile and 
     apparel workers to approve this legislation in an expeditious 
     manner under suspension of the rules in the House and by 
     unanimous consent in the Senate.
           Sincerely,
     Augustine D. Tantillo,
       Executive Director, American Manufacturing Trade Action 
     Coalition (AMTAC).
     Cass M. Johnson,
       President, National Council of Textile Organizations 
     (NCTO).
                                 ______