    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Pages S1317-S1318]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                          Nomination of Jamieson Greer

      Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday evening, we invoked cloture on
    the

    [[Page S1318]]

    nomination of Jamieson Greer to be U.S. Trade Representative.
      Mr. Greer is admirably qualified for this position. He spent most of
    his career specializing in trade law and has extensive international
    experience. He served as a missionary in Brussels, received a master's
    degree from two Paris institutions, served as law clerk for the
    European Court of Justice, and was stationed in both Turkiye and Iraq
    as a member of the Air Force. Most significantly of all, he spent 3
    years of the previous Trump administration serving as Chief of Staff to
    then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who spoke highly of
    Mr. Greer's work. He is, in short, very well prepared for this role.
      One of my top priorities when it comes to trade is expanding
    opportunities for our Nation's agriculture producers, like the many
    farmers and ranchers in my State of South Dakota.
      The Biden administration frequently seemed to have no interest in
    trade beyond negotiating on climate and labor issues. Witness the fact
    that there was not a single FTA negotiated during the Biden
    administration--not a single one--with all the opportunities across the
    globe to enter into trade agreements to open up and provide access to
    America's farmers and ranchers and small business people. Well, that
    was a real disservice to America's ag producers and to our small
    businesses.
      Trade is critical to the continued success of American agriculture.
    Twenty percent of U.S. ag products are exported yearly, and exports
    provide substantial farm income. Soybeans and corn alone accounted for
    22 percent of all U.S. exports by value in 2024.
      Thanks, in part, to the Biden administration's almost complete
    inaction on trade, the current agricultural trade deficit is at an
    alltime high. That is an area of our economy where we have always run
    trade surpluses historically. Consistently over time, decade after
    decade, we had always run trade surpluses in agriculture until the last
    few years under the Biden administration, when we started racking up
    not only deficits but now record trade deficits. They are at an alltime
    high. I have to say that is a real problem for our ag producers,
    especially considering the other challenges that they have been facing,
    and it is something that needs to be addressed.
      I know that the Trump administration is committed to meeting the
    needs of farmers and ranchers, and I am looking forward to working with
    Mr. Greer to expand opportunities for our agricultural producers.
      I am very encouraged by the fact that Mr. Greer has expressed his
    commitment to working closely with the Senate Finance Committee, of
    which I am a member, and with Congress.
      President Biden's Trade Representative was completely uninterested in
    working with Congress. So it is very encouraging to hear of Mr. Greer's
    commitment to communication and collaboration.
      I look forward to a close partnership between the administration and
    Congress in the coming months and years, as we work to expand
    opportunities for American producers.