[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3794-3795]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      ANDEAN TRADE PREFERENCES ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Earlier today, unanimous consent was requested on the 
part of Senator Lott that the Andean pact come before the Senate. That 
request was not granted. So I rise to express my regret of that 
happening and to express my support for the fact that the Andean Trade 
Preferences Act legislation should be on the floor and should have been 
considered by now. I am concerned if the Senate doesn't act early on 
the Andean trade bill, that America's continued leadership in the 
international arena of trade will be severely impaired.
  Specifically, I fear our failure to approve this legislation in a 
timely manner will undermine our ability to constructively engage with 
our Latin American neighbors at a time when many of them face enormous 
economic and political challenges.
  Today, President Bush leaves on an important mission to Latin 
America. Just on Saturday, he will visit Peru, one of the Andean 
nations, where he will meet with four Andean leaders. President Bush's 
trip builds on a long tradition of promoting vigorous United States 
engagement with Latin America that started as far back as President

[[Page 3795]]

Kennedy's Alliance for Progress in the 1960s.
  As did President Kennedy, President Bush has a vision for Latin 
America. The President wants to tell our Andean neighbors--Peru, 
Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador--that the United States wants to be 
their hemispheric partner in peace. He wants to tell them that trade 
and prosperity go hand in hand.
  President Bush wants to make the case that the benefits of trade are 
not just for rich countries like the United States; they are also for 
countries that aspire to become rich countries; for countries that want 
better, more secure lives for their citizens; for countries that want 
better health care, better education, and better futures for their 
children.
  President Bush wants to encourage our Andean neighbors to use trade 
to promote economic development through a diversified export base as an 
alternative to the allure of the drug trade.
  When President Kennedy unveiled his Alliance for Progress in 1961, he 
said if we were bold and determined enough, our efforts to reach out to 
Latin America could mark the beginning of a new era in the American 
experience. This is just as true today as it was way back in 1961.
  Through the Andean pact, and complimentary trade initiatives such as 
the Free Trade Area of the Americas, we can achieve a new era of 
hemispheric economic cooperation that benefits everybody--not just 
these four countries, not just the United States, but it has a benefit 
way beyond that.
  The Andean nations know trade, not aid, is the best way to overcome 
the fragmentation of Latin American economies, and to build the self-
sustaining growth that nourishes democratic institutions.
  But because the Andean trade bill still languishes in the Senate--
along with another important bill, trade promotion authority, another 
vitally important trade bill as well--the President's trip will not be 
as effective as it could have been if the Senate had acted. Obviously, 
we should expect our President to be successful and want him to be 
successful.
  For a long time, we had a tradition in this country that politics 
stops at the water's edge. Unfortunately, that is not as true now as it 
once was. A lot of trade and foreign policy issues get entangled with 
our domestic partisan politics. I very much regret this development 
because it is very harmful to the U.S. leadership in any subject but 
particularly in the area of trade. It is harmful to the enhanced 
prospects for prosperity and peace that we are trying to promote around 
the world, and commercialization is a very useful tool in promoting 
world trade.
  Mr. President, the other day, the lead editorial of the Washington 
Post addressed the issue of the Senate majority leader's failure to 
bring up the Andean trade pact. I would like to read a portion of that 
editorial, which appeared March 19 in the Washington Post:
  The Senate's failure to help the four Andean states--Colombia, Peru, 
Ecuador and Bolivia--is particularly egregious. A package of trade 
concessions has passed through committee and commands an overwhelming 
majority of the full chamber. . . . Only a handful of Senators opposes 
the package. But the Senate leadership has failed to bring it to the 
floor, making it likely that Mr. Bush will arrive in Peru empty-handed 
. . . at a time when American leadership in Latin America is being 
questioned, the least the Senate could do is to pass a trade measure 
that almost nobody opposes.
  As is clear from my point of view, the time to act was months ago. 
But it is never too late to do the right thing. We had that opportunity 
today and it failed. So I urge my colleagues to, just as soon as we get 
back from the Easter recess, put not only the Andean pact but other 
trade issues very high on the agenda and get them passed and help us to 
help these Andean nations, which are so poor and need our help. Trade 
is one way to get them the necessary help and develop a good economy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.

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