[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1260-1262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     COLOMBIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, earlier today, the President spoke to 
the Chamber of Commerce in what some have described as an effort to 
make nice with the business community. I will leave others to analyze 
what the speech means politically. The first concern of the American 
people is what it will mean for the economy. As I have said before, 
what the President says matters a lot less than what he does.
  So we will just have to wait and see whether the administration's 
actions support its rhetoric. And it is in that spirit that I would 
like to suggest one thing the President could do immediately, with 
Republican support, to show he is serious about jobs and the economy. 
He could work with us to pass free trade agreements with Colombia and 
Panama that have been languishing for years now.
  We welcome the President's support for the South Korea Free Trade 
Agreement which has earned strong bipartisan support. But by failing to 
show the same commitment in passing these two other free trade 
agreements, the President is missing out on an important opportunity to 
do something good for the economy and for jobs.
  The President says he wants to double U.S. exports in 5 years. Free 
trade agreements with Colombia and Panama would go a long way toward 
meeting that goal--and creating jobs here in America--by opening 
markets in Latin America.
  In my view, the time for delay on these two agreements is over. The 
President needs to do more than promise to ``pursue'' these agreements, 
as he did today. He should work with Congress to pass these two 
agreements and sign them into law.
  This should be an easy one. Colombia is a strong strategic ally in 
South America, and it has made great strides in addressing the concerns 
of labor union critics here in the U.S. It has come a long way. We 
should not walk away from Colombia now. As for Panama, our two nations 
have had strong strategic and economic ties for years. This agreement 
would only strengthen those bonds and build on them.
  As America sits on the sidelines, our competitors around the world, 
including the EU and Canada, are moving forward to lower barriers to 
trade and increase access for their businesses and

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workers. This is unacceptable, particularly for an administration that 
is claiming as its top priority to ``win the future.''
  It won't be enough for Republicans and it shouldn't be enough for the 
business community to allow the administration's trade agenda to start 
and end with South Korea. We should be passing all pending trade 
agreements and inking new ones on a bipartisan basis, even when it 
requires the President bringing his own party along.
  We have heard Secretary Clinton, Senator Baucus, and Ambassador Kirk 
all express support for submitting a Colombia FTA to Congress. But the 
President's own pronouncements continue to fall short. It is not enough 
for the President to say good things about free trade while siding with 
labor bosses over job creators and the vast majority of American 
workers who do not belong to unions and who would largely benefit from 
opening markets overseas. We shouldn't allow labor union bosses to have 
veto power over economic policies that benefit us all.
  So the question is: will the President allow our allies in South 
America to continue waiting for us to move forward, or will he send the 
message that America stands by her allies and is prepared to do 
something good for American workers, good for the American economy, and 
good for key allies. Congress is ready to pass these two deals today. 
It is time for the President to commit to the same.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska.
  Mr. JOHANNS. Mr. President, I compliment the minority leader on his 
comments on trade. I wish to speak in morning business on the same 
topic. I will not have to speak long because I have talked about this 
many times since I joined the Senate over 2 years ago.
  Today I will focus on the U.S.-Colombia trade agreement. This 
agreement was signed by both the United States and Colombia on November 
22, 2006. It has been around many years. It is expected to create 
several thousand jobs. Yet for 5 years, to the detriment of U.S. 
exporters and job seekers, policymakers have punted on this important 
trade agreement. The Obama administration has been sitting on the 
sidelines watching other countries slowly chip away at U.S. 
competitiveness in the Colombian marketplace. Our friends to the north 
in Canada and to the south in Mexico wisely negotiated new agreements 
with Colombia. They saw the void U.S. companies and workers should have 
been filling and acted to fill that void themselves. I believe it is 
time we stop watching other countries make the moves that have been 
teed up for this country for about 5 years.
  Implementing the agreement would increase U.S. exports by more than 
$\1/2\ billion annually and create almost 4,000 much needed jobs in the 
United States. Simply stated, passing this agreement would help to 
improve our economy.
  In last year's State of the Union Address, we heard our President 
say:

       If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign 
     trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our 
     shores.

  I applauded his comments. I applauded his desire to increase exports. 
But, unfortunately, no action was taken on the President's words.
  During this last year's State of the Union Address, the President 
again acknowledged the need for the Colombia trade agreement by saying:

       We will strengthen our trade relations with key partners 
     like South Korea and Panama and Colombia.

  Once again, these words will ring hollow with no action. Yet again 
today, in a much touted speech to the Chamber of Commerce, the 
President talked about pursuing the Colombia trade agreement. I must 
admit, I asked the question: What on Earth is left to pursue? The 
agreement was signed nearly 5 years ago. It is ready for approval. All 
the President needs to do is submit it for our action. If the President 
thinks there was more pursuing to do, what have we been waiting for the 
past couple of years? Why has not the administration pursued whatever 
it is they think needs pursuing for now over 2 years?
  Americans who are out of work know this administration is missing an 
opportunity to say to thousands of Americans: You have a job. Our job 
creators are waiting. My hope is the President stands behind his 
remarks today.
  This is a golden opportunity for the President to send a signal that 
his words do have meaning and to show that we can, in fact, work 
together in a bipartisan way. He could submit the Colombia trade 
agreement to Congress for approval today and send an enormously 
powerful message that when he says ``pursue,'' he means action, not 
stall.
  Folks from my State are anxiously awaiting approval of this agreement 
as are folks from around the country. We should all be reminded that 
workers and businesses in our home States will benefit from the 
Colombia trade agreement. Our farmers and ranchers would benefit from 
the elimination of tariffs on more than 77 percent of agricultural 
goods. American workers will see more of their products sold as 76 
percent of Colombian tariffs on our industrial goods are eliminated 
immediately. No doubt about it, this agreement will have a real impact 
on Nebraskans and other Americans who work hard every day to make a 
better life for their families.
  Let me share a couple of examples of Nebraskans who want to see the 
U.S.-Colombia trade agreement ratified. Take Nebraska-based 
manufacturer Valmont Industries, for example. Valmont has loyal 
customers in Colombia who buy its irrigation pivots. Currently, 
Colombia imposes a 15-percent duty or tax on those pivot systems. This 
would be eliminated by the Colombia trade agreement. If the 15-percent 
duty is, in fact, eliminated, Valmont estimates they would gain market 
share against European competitors and add 10 to 15 new jobs in 
Nebraska alone.
  Take Rick Larson of Potter, NE. He grows wheat and corn. He has a 
small livestock operation. Unfortunately, the market share of American 
farmers is declining rapidly in Colombia. When we signed the agreement, 
American farmers such as Rick Larson in Potter supplied 76 percent of 
the wheat to Colombia. Today they sell 22 percent. For Rick that means 
he has lost 15 cents per bushel of wheat. That impacts a real family.
  It is a similar story with corn. He has lost 4 cents per bushel. In a 
place where we throw around the idea of trillions, that may not sound 
like much, but it means Rick's wheat and corn revenues were down $7,600 
last year just because the administration had not submitted those trade 
agreements for our approval. Farmers such as Rick cannot believe we are 
sitting on our hands while our market share is evaporating right before 
our eyes. He shudders to think what will happen to his sales prices 
once Canada beats us to a free-trade agreement, even though it was 
signed 2 years after ours.
  It is not easy to regain lost market share once it is gone. It 
worries exporters when they see their government standing between them 
and a promising marketplace. Nebraska farmers and ranchers and those 
across the country can compete with anyone. All they are asking for is 
a level playing field and a fair shot.
  We have been giving exporters from Colombia more than a fair shot 
through the Andean Trade Preferences Act, which is set to expire on 
February 12. Under the agreement, a whopping 90 percent of goods and 
services coming into our country to compete with our citizens enters 
absolutely duty free.
  I think we should extend the Andean Trade Preferences, but we should 
also knock down the barriers for our own exporters and level the 
playing field. We must give our workers that level playing field by 
approving the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
  American exporters have waited too long to realize the benefits of 
this trade agreement. Isn't it time to get serious about beating our 
global competitors in the Colombian market? Don't we all realize U.S. 
jobs depend upon this?
  You see, we all represent people such as Valmont and farmers such as 
Rick.

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Let's pay tribute to their entrepreneurial spirit by tearing down 
Colombian trade barriers that inhibit economic growth in this great 
Nation.
  I urge the President to transmit the signed U.S.-Colombia trade 
agreement to Congress immediately. This is one Senator who is going to 
stand behind the President and do everything I can to try to get that 
agreement ratified in the Senate. It is time for Speaker Boehner and 
Leader Reid to call it up for consideration as soon as it reaches their 
desks. But, most important, it is time for the President to lay it on 
their desks.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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