[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 22]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 30994-30995]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, partisan divisions are common in the 
Congress, but a few issues regularly escape those boundaries. 
International trade typically is one of them. Although the votes that 
gave President Bush Trade Promotion Authority confirm that even 
international trade can be an intensely polarizing issue, it frequently 
garners support across the political spectrum.
  I first traveled to Africa in 1961 with Operation Crossroads to build 
a school in Ghana. Africa in the '60s underwent a vibrant surge of 
optimism as independence from colonial rule spread throughout the 
continent. My experience in Ghana changed my view of the world, and 
many Members of Congress have had experiences similar to mine. Many 
Members also believe, as I do, that when the United States opens its 
markets to poor countries, we extend an enormous opportunity to create 
jobs and raise living standards, and also provide greater value to 
American consumers. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), 
signed into law by President Clinton in 2000, underscores the common 
goals that Republicans and Democrats can share.
  By any measure, AGOA is a resounding success. It is spurring economic 
growth and bolstering economic reforms. It is fostering stronger ties 
between sub-Saharan Africa and the United States, and it is reaffirming 
Africans' conviction that they can compete in any market.
  AGOA, which provides temporary benefits, requires periodic review by 
the Congress to assess its effectiveness. It was designed this way in 
part because policy makers, like myself, did not know the precise 
recipe to attract the type of investment in sub-Saharan Africa we were 
seeking. We made a few good guesses in this regard, but we probably 
missed the mark in other areas.
  We guessed right when we decided that we should provide sub-Saharan 
Africa greater access to the U.S. textile and apparel market. Over the 
last three years, tens of thousands of jobs were created in this 
industry, thanks to AGOA benefits. Expiring next year, however, is the 
provision in AGOA that allows Africa's poorest countries to buy fabric 
outside the region--where it is inexpensive and high in quality--to 
create finished apparel products for export to the U.S.
  Today, I join several of my colleagues, like Representatives Ed 
Royce, Amo Houghton and Charles Rangel, to introduce legislation to 
extend AGOA and spread its benefits to other sectors of sub-Saharan 
Africa's economy. The AGOA III Act, H.R. 3572, marks the beginning of 
another bi-partisan effort to develop a plan to improve U.S.-Africa 
trade.
  When my colleagues and I set out to write this bill, we saw the need 
to address four key issues. First, the third-country fabric provision 
available to Africa's poorest countries through AGOA expires at the end 
of next year, at the very same time as worldwide quotas on apparel 
disappear due to the WTO's Multi Fiber agreement. Third-country fabric 
must be extended to allow sub-Saharan Africa to participate in a market 
dominated by the Asian giants. There will be robust debate about how 
long Congress should extend this provision. We suggest in the AGOA III 
Act that these benefits should last as long as four years.
  Second, the United States needs to provide technical assistance to 
African farmers to enable them to export their products to America. To 
do this, the AGOA III Act places dozens of American agricultural 
experts throughout sub-Saharan Africa to work with farmers and their 
governments.
  Third, the biggest barrier to investment in sub-Saharan Africa is the 
lack of infrastructure. But building roads, ports, energy grids, 
telecommunication and water systems solely to increase trade flows is 
simply not feasible. It is the ``chicken or the egg'' dilemma. We 
cannot increase trade flows without adequate infrastructure, yet why 
build infrastructure if trade capacity is not at a level that requires 
it? We must find ways to develop and maintain new infrastructure in 
sub-Saharan Africa as trade capacity improves. One way we can do this 
is by fostering sustainable ecotourism in sub-Saharan Africa. This 
industry is expected to grow 30 percent over the next decade. We can 
help sub-Saharan Africa position itself to take advantage of this 
because the region enjoys an international comparative advantage with 
its extensive protected areas that host a variety of ecosystems and 
cultures. National parks and reserves in sub-Saharan Africa can become 
a basis for regional development, involving the communities living 
within and adjacent to them. The infrastructure used to support an 
ecotourism industry can also be used to increase trade flow. There are 
several initiatives in the AGOA III Act that seek to help sub-Saharan 
Africa develop its infrastructure, in part by helping build a viable 
ecotourism industry.
  Fourth, we must address AIDS, which is not just a health crisis. AIDS 
is an economic catastrophe. In the 1990s, AIDS reduced Africa's per 
capita annual growth by nearly 1 percent. In the most heavily affected 
countries, 2 percentage points will be sliced off per capita growth in 
coming years. This means that after two decades, many economies in sub-
Saharan Africa will be about 20-40 percent smaller than they would have 
been without AIDS. That is an enormous decline that no trade policy can 
overcome. In addition to fully funding international programs to combat 
the virus, we can provide tax incentives through AGOA to leverage 
private-sector contributions to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, 
Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The AGOA III Act would provide a tax 
deduction to U.S. firms operating in AGOA-eligible countries when they 
make a cash donation to the Global Fund.
  As I speak with African entrepreneurs, civil society, and the African 
diplomatic corps, the enthusiasm about AGOA and sub-Saharan Africa's 
economic possibilities remind me of the excitement of 1960s. But unless 
all of us work together as we did before--Democrats, Republicans, civil 
society, and the governments of sub-Saharan Africa--to build a 
consensus about extending and enhancing AGOA, I fear that this 
enthusiasm will go the way of our '60s optimism, as genocide, 
apartheid, civil war, and famine swept over Africa. We have a rare 
opportunity to ensure that Africa continues to share our markets. We 
must not let this moment pass us by. I hope that when the Congress 
convenes next year, addressing U.S.-African trade will be at the top of 
Congress's agenda.

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