[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12010-12011]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 TRADE

  (Mr. COSTA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to encourage our leadership 
to expand our trade opportunities and to grow our economy by calling up 
and

[[Page 12011]]

passing our pending free trade agreements.
  Just this week, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to passing 
the Korea Free Trade Agreement. I applaud the President for this 
effort.
  Korea, Colombia and Panama hold great economic potential for our 
country, especially for agricultural regions, such as the region I 
represent in the San Joaquin Valley.
  Still, while these trade agreements languish, our farmers continue to 
face high tariffs in these countries--some as high as 80 percent. Worse 
yet, many of our international competitors in the European Union and in 
Canada are expanding market opportunities by signing their own trade 
agreements and by seizing markets that could and should belong to U.S. 
agriculture.
  Madam Speaker, we are living in a global economy. If we are truly 
committed to economic recovery in the United States, now is the time to 
promote U.S. products abroad.

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