[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2283-S2284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE REPUBLICAN-LED SENATE

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I am pleased to hear of yet another 
accomplishment that has happened in the Senate since we have gotten 
things opened up and functioning again.
  I wish to say that last year when Republicans were running for 
office, we promised that if we were reelected, we would get Washington 
working again for American families. That wasn't a campaign slogan; 
that was a commitment.
  I am proud to report that after 100 days in office, Republicans are 
making significant progress. To start, Republicans have the Senate 
functioning again on a basic level.
  From an operations standpoint day to day, over the past few years 
when the Democrats controlled the lawmaking process in the Senate, it 
largely ground to a halt. Instead of bills being drafted in committee 
and then brought to the floor for open debate and amendment, bills were 
crafted behind closed doors. Members in the minority party were shut 
out of the process, and so were many rank-and-file Democrats. Last 
year, Democratic leadership allowed a total of 15 amendment votes--
slightly over 1 amendment vote per month in the world's greatest 
deliberative body, known for unlimited amendment and unlimited debate. 
Contrast that with the first 100 days under Republican control. In the 
first 3\1/2\ months of the 114th Congress, the Republican-led Senate 
has held more than 100 amendment rollcall votes. More than half of 
those votes have been on Democratic amendments.
  When you shut one party out of the legislative process in the Senate, 
you shut out the voices of millions of Americans. Republicans 
experienced that under Democratic control, and we were determined to 
make sure things were different this year.
  Since Republicans took control of the Senate, Members of both parties 
have had the opportunity to make their voices heard, and we are seeing 
a lot more bipartisan legislation as a result. In the past 3\1/2\ 
months, the Republican-led Senate has approved 12 bipartisan bills. We 
have passed bipartisan legislation to approve the Keystone Pipeline. We 
have passed a bipartisan bill to prevent suicides among veterans. We 
have passed a bipartisan reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk 
Insurance Program and a bipartisan bill to provide restitution for 
victims of child pornography. Last week, we passed the first 
significant bipartisan reform of Medicare in years.
  Mr. President, last week also brought the announcement of a new 
bipartisan agreement, a bill to reauthorize trade promotion authority.
  With 96 percent of the world's population and consumers outside the 
borders of the United States, trade is essential to economic growth.
  Since 2009, increasing exports have accounted for more than 1.6 
million new jobs in the United States. Manufacturing jobs that depend 
on exports pay on average 13 percent to 18 percent more.
  U.S. farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers rely on access to foreign 
markets. In my home State of South Dakota alone, exports support more 
than 15,000 jobs in industries ranging from farming and ranching to 
machinery and electronics. Farmers and ranchers in South Dakota, where 
agriculture is the No. 1 industry, depend on exports for a substantial 
part of their income. Exports of major South Dakota crops, such as 
soybeans and corn, have soared over the past few years. In fact, in 
2013, total agricultural exports from South Dakota totaled $3.8 
billion.
  Previous free- and fair-trade agreements have been a boon to 
America's farmers, ranchers, and workers. In 2013, countries with which 
our Nation has free-trade agreements purchased 12 times more goods per 
capita from the United States than non-free-trade agreement countries.
  Since 1934, almost all of the U.S free-trade agreements have been 
negotiated using trade promotion authority or a similar streamlined 
process. Trade promotion authority is designed to put the United States 
in the strongest possible position when negotiating trade agreements.
  Under TPA, Congress sets guidelines for trade negotiations and 
outlines the priorities the administration must follow. In return, 
Congress promises a simple up-or-down vote on the resulting trade 
agreement instead of a long amendment process that could leave the 
final deal looking nothing like the original one. That simple up-or-
down vote is the key: It lets our negotiating partners know that 
Congress and trade negotiators are on the same page when it comes to 
the content of trade agreements, which gives other countries the 
confidence they need to put their best offers on the table. That, in 
turn, allows for a successful and timely conclusion of negotiations.
  Currently, the administration is negotiating two major trade 
agreements that have the potential to vastly expand the market for 
American goods and services in the EU and in the Pacific.
  The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being negotiated with a number of 
Asia-Pacific nations, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, 
Singapore, and currently Vietnam. Currently, American goods face heavy 
tariffs in many of these countries. Tariffs on consumer goods in Trans-
Pacific Partnership countries reach as high as 85 percent, while 
tariffs on agricultural products range even higher. Poultry tariffs in 
Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, for example, go up to 240 percent. 
That is a tremendous burden on American producers.
  American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and consumers would all 
benefit from the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement 
and the United States-European Union trade agreement. These trade deals 
remove many of the barriers currently facing U.S. products in these 
regions, which would allow American goods to compete on a level playing 
field with their foreign counterparts. Reauthorizing trade promotion 
authority is essential to bringing these two agreements to a successful 
and timely conclusion.
  The bipartisan trade promotion authority bill that was introduced 
last week by the senior Senators from Utah and Oregon reauthorizes this 
key tool and includes a number of important updates, such as provisions 
to strengthen

[[Page S2284]]

transparency of the negotiating process and ensure that the American 
people stay informed. It also contains provisions I pushed for to 
require negotiators to ensure that trade agreements protect digital 
trade as well as trade in physical goods and services. With the 
importance of digital trade in the 21st-century economy, it is 
essential that any new trade promotion reauthorization include new 
guidelines specifically targeted at digital trade. I previously 
introduced legislation to help ensure that the free flow of digital 
goods and services is protected, and I am pleased that the bipartisan 
deal that was reached includes many of the measures I have advocated.
  The best way to solve the challenges facing our Nation is for 
Democrats and Republicans to come together to develop solutions. We 
have done a lot of that so far in the Republican-led Senate, and I look 
forward to doing a lot more of it.
  I hope those Democrats who have opposed trade promotion authority in 
the past will join the White House and Senate Republicans to pass this 
important bill for American workers and businesses and make the TPA 
reauthorization our next bipartisan achievement.
  Mr. President, I wish to add that we also have a bill that would 
require Congress to approve any nuclear arms agreement with Iran--also 
a very big bipartisan bill, as it was reported out of the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee.
  These are things which can be accomplishments for the American 
people. It starts with getting the Senate functioning and operating 
again, where people have the opportunity to come to the floor and 
debate these issues, to offer amendments, and to get those amendments 
voted on. That is what our commitment has been in the Senate. I argue--
and I think the record bears this out--that it is making a very 
consequential difference in terms of the things we are able to get done 
for the American people. I certainly hope we can continue that pattern.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana.

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