[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 18, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRADE PROMOTION LEGISLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have one final matter. For all the 
issues that may divide Democrats and Republicans these days, there is 
one thing many of us can agree on--trade is good for America. There is 
bipartisan agreement that trade is good for American wages with export-
related manufacturing jobs paying nearly 20 percent more than other 
kinds of jobs, and there is bipartisan agreement that trade is good for 
American jobs overall.
  According to one study, trade supports nearly 40 million jobs 
nationally--about one out of every five jobs and more than one-half 
million jobs in my State of Kentucky alone. In fact, Kentucky's exports 
in goods and services have already increased dramatically since the 
enactment of trade agreements with countries such as Australia, from 
about $10 billion a year to almost $30 billion a year. Trade is good 
for Kentucky and trade is good for America, and that is why this is an 
issue where the White House and Congress are working together to 
support American jobs and wages.
  While the United States has historically been a world leader in 
opening more markets to the products our country makes and grows, we 
have fallen woefully behind in recent years.
  Thankfully, emerging agreements with countries in Europe and the 
Pacific present us with a real chance to catch up. These agreements 
present us with the unique opportunity to export more of what we make 
over there so we can create more American jobs right here at home. But 
we cannot make this important progress for America's middle class 
without passing the right kind of trade legislation in Congress first.
  There is bipartisan agreement--at least in principle--to do exactly 
that, but the details will obviously be important. We want to ensure we 
get those details of that legislation right so we can get the best 
agreements possible for the American people. We certainly don't want to 
be considering legislation that would make these goals harder to 
achieve--undermining future economic and job growth.
  The good news is our country has decades of experience with the kind 
of bipartisan trade promotion legislation that allows for the best 
deals for American workers to be negotiated by America's trade 
representatives and then approved by Congress. Several members of my 
conference will speak about that issue on the floor today. Like many of 
our Democratic friends, these Senators are interested in getting the 
best deals possible for the American people--the kind of deals that 
would only be possible with truly effective and bipartisan trade 
legislation. So they will explain this important issue, and that is 
just what is needed. They will explain it in further detail.
  Before I leave the floor, I wish to recognize the good work of the 
chairman of the Finance Committee for being an incredible advocate on 
this issue, and allow me to also recognize the ranking member of the 
Finance Committee for working hard to try to get this right. We all 
look forward to working with these Members, and all Members, on this 
very important issue.

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