[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11568-11569]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           GRANT PERMANENT NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Reed) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. REED. I rise this morning to express my support for the Russian 
accession to the WTO and for our need here in this Chamber and in 
Washington, D.C., to grant Russia PNTR status so that we can establish 
a strong, forward-looking trade relationship with Russia.
  Madam Speaker, it's simple. American trade opportunity, as 
represented by the Russian market, equals American job opportunity here 
on our soil, and I am proud to support this need to get PNTR trade 
status for Russia.
  I am also joined this morning by a good friend from North Dakota to 
whom I would like to yield, Mr. Berg.
  Mr. BERG. Today, I rise to urge Congress to grant permanent normal 
trade relations, also known as PNTR, with Russia. Russia will soon join 
the World Trade Organization. This will increase trade with Russia, and 
it will create significant export opportunities. However, before we can 
take advantage of these trade benefits, we must grant permanent normal 
trade relations with Russia.
  This is a great opportunity for our State of North Dakota to increase 
trade with the ninth largest economy in the world. In 2011, last year, 
North Dakota had over $46 million worth of exports to Russia. This 
impacted 160 jobs in our State directly. That number will grow 
significantly if we grant PNTR to Russia. On the other hand, failing to 
grant them PNTR will significantly impact North Dakota businesses as 
well as all American businesses. It will put us at a competitive 
disadvantage.
  This is why it is important for Congress to grant permanent normal 
trade relations with Russia and to do it as quickly as possible.

[[Page 11569]]


  Mr. REED. I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  I also thank the folks who came to the Chamber this morning, Madam 
Speaker, in a bipartisan fashion to recognize the need to grant PNTR 
status to Russia in order for us--American manufacturers, American job 
creators--to take advantage of that trade opportunity that is 
represented by the Russian accession to the WTO.
  If we go forward and grant PNTR status to Russia, United States 
exports could double or, perhaps, even triple as a result of the trade 
opportunity that Russia represents to our American job creators; and in 
the great State of New York, that means tremendous numbers of jobs will 
be created.
  As we all know, the number one issue facing us in this Chamber, in 
this city, is: How are we going to grow jobs across America? As I said 
in the beginning and as I will say again, American trade opportunity, 
such as represented by Russia, equals American job opportunity.

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