[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 20088-20097]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 644, TRADE FACILITATION AND TRADE ENFORCEMENT 
                              ACT OF 2015

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 560, I 
call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 644) to reauthorize 
trade facilitation and trade enforcement functions and activities, and 
for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 560, the 
conference report is considered read.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
December 9, 2015, at page 19813.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) and the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) each will control 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the 
conference report to accompany H.R. 644.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to be here today to talk about the 
conference report on the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act 
of 2015. This process marks a return to regular order and ensures that 
Members and constituent voices are heard. As chairman of the House Ways 
and Means Committee, I share the Speaker's commitment to an open and 
transparent process.
  The conference report builds on the good work of my fellow conferees, 
Representatives Reichert and Tiberi, as well as support from a number 
of our Ways and Means members in the conference as a whole and dozens 
of other Members. It delivers on the promises we made to those Members 
when we considered trade legislation earlier this year.
  Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a vital part of our 
progrowth agenda. It will level the playing field for Americans and 
also make it easier for them to compete in a global marketplace. It 
significantly improves trade facilitation. Here is how: it ensures that 
Customs and Border Protection focuses on its trade-related mission and 
streamlines processing of legitimate trade which will increase U.S. 
competitiveness and create U.S. jobs; it modernizes the agency's 
automated system and reduces paperwork burden. Basically, this bill 
replaces inefficiency with innovation and eliminates outdated systems.
  In addition, Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that free trade is 
enforceable trade, and I am glad that this bill significantly 
strengthens enforcement of America's trade law. It creates new tools to 
combat currency manipulation based on ideas from Representative Miller 
and her colleagues in the Michigan delegation. It gives Customs and 
Border Protection new tools and holds it accountable to effectively act 
against evasion of antidumping and countervailing duties, including by 
targeting risky imports and establishing a new investigation process 
with strict deadlines and judicial review. Representatives Boustany and 
Jason Smith deserve credit for working together to make sure these 
provisions were included.
  The conference report strengthens trade promotion authority by 
reaffirming that trade agreements should not

[[Page 20089]]

include provisions on immigration or greenhouse gas emissions, for 
which Representatives King and Sessions deserve great recognition.
  It ensures greater oversight of administration trade nominees and at 
trade negotiating rounds.
  This bill also includes important provisions to help fight human 
trafficking, which is a scourge that we must take seriously.
  Thanks to Representative Roskam's leadership, the conference report 
combats politically motivated acts against our good friend and ally 
Israel.
  With respect to the miscellaneous tariff bill, it reaffirms Congress' 
commitment to advancing a legislative process with robust consultation 
and consistent with House rules. I fully intend to work with my 
colleagues to develop this process early next year.
  Finally, it contains the Internet Tax Freedom Act to permanently ban 
States and localities from taxing Internet access or Internet commerce.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this important 
legislation. While I celebrate this bill, this is only the beginning. 
As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I want to make sure my 
constituents in Texas and constituents all across America understand 
that we are going to continue to move progrowth bills that help grow 
our economy and make it easier for all Americans to find good jobs and 
have more opportunities.
  We have got an ambitious agenda, and we are just getting started. You 
can expect to see more action soon at our committee and on this floor 
on trade, on jobs, and on all the economic issues that matter to the 
American people. We are going to lead, and we are going to deliver.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose this conference report. I am 
disappointed that we have passed up an opportunity for a truly 
bipartisan action on Customs and trade legislation. The Senate took 
that opportunity over the summer. It passed a Customs bill by a vote of 
78-20 that was truly about Customs and trade enforcement. It included a 
strong provision to address currency manipulation, the most significant 
trade enforcement failure over the past decade, and the Senate bill 
very importantly avoided including wrongful positions and provisions 
that had nothing to do whatsoever with Customs or trade enforcement.
  The House bill did just the opposite. It passed a bill that seeks to 
prevent our trade agreements from addressing climate change and weakens 
current law on human trafficking. It failed to include anything 
meaningful on currency manipulation, even though just a few years ago 
this House passed a currency bill very similar to what was in the 
Senate Customs bill by a vote of 348-79. Because of the partisan and 
flawed nature of the House Customs bill, just 12 Democrats voted for 
it.
  This conference report is far more like the fundamentally flawed 
House bill than the Senate bill. The conference committee rejected the 
Senate currency provision, as I said, one that had the support of 348 
House Members just a few years ago.
  There is much talk about how this bill will create jobs and about 
economic growth. But make no mistake; over the past decade or so, 
currency manipulation has cost the U.S., our workers, and our industry 
between 2 and 5 million jobs. Instead, this conference bill includes a 
meaningless provision that simply calls for more talk, more deference 
to the Treasury Department, and no real action.
  The climate change language in the conference report sends just the 
wrong message as our diplomats are working in Paris with over 150 
nations to find an agreement on this threat to our environment. The 
language in this conference report on climate change is far more than 
confusing, as some people like to say. It would prevent us, for 
example, from negotiating provisions like common fuel efficiency 
standards, a very real possibility in our negotiations with Europe. As 
reported today from Paris, the Republican Party of the United States 
may be the only political party anywhere in denial about climate 
change. That denial is why this provision on climate in this conference 
report is before us.
  Now, as to human trafficking, this provision weakens current law by 
allowing for a trade agreement with a tier 3 country to be fast-tracked 
so long as that country ``has taken concrete actions'' to implement 
recommended changes, no matter how egregious the conditions are still 
in place. Countries on tier 3 are the worst actors, countries that the 
State Department has concluded ``do not fully comply with the minimum 
standards under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.'' We need to 
get these countries to meet minimum standards on trafficking, certainly 
well before we enter into a trade investment relationship with them. 
Unfortunately, this conference report does not get us there.
  These and other fundamental flaws outweigh the enforcement provisions 
that were included in the conference report. Most of the enforcement 
provisions are weak, and I think they are being oversold. For example, 
the bill establishes an interagency enforcement center, but that has 
already existed for several years.
  It renews the Super 301, which requires the USTR to report regularly 
on its trade enforcement priorities, but this is something an 
administration can already do on its own, just as the Clinton 
administration did.
  The bill establishes, also, a new trade enforcement trust fund, but 
those funds still need to be appropriated and paid for, just as they 
did in the past.
  It requires the ITC to make information related to imports available 
on its Web site, information that already exists in other forms in the 
same Web site.
  All this is very disappointing because there are positive aspects of 
this bill, such as the ENFORCE Act that my colleague Linda Sanchez has 
spearheaded, which will help to address the circumvention of 
antidumping and countervailing duties to address unfair trade. All of 
the deep flaws in this conference report far overshadow this provision 
and the real Customs provisions that have long had bipartisan support.
  Going further, the bill includes an Internet tax provision added by 
the conferees that has absolutely no place in this Customs bill. It was 
neither in the House nor the Senate Customs bill. Not only is it not a 
Customs measure, it is not even a trade measure. Dropping this 
provision into a conference report at the last minute and with no 
warning is no way to legislate. It is the opposite of regular order.
  Indeed, this conference report does not tell it straight. As I said, 
it deletes the only provision that reflects meaningful legislation on 
currency, which has devastated U.S. jobs and economic growth, 
legislation that overwhelmingly passed the House previously.

                              {time}  1115

  It keeps provisions inserted by the House to encourage Republicans 
who oppose action on climate change, as I said, at the same time the 
world is meeting in Paris, thwarting further possible action on climate 
change in trade negotiations, including with Europe.
  It tones down a provision which had teeth on human sex and labor 
trafficking.
  It sneaks in another provision totally unrelated to Customs, as I 
said, never being discussed at the only meeting of the conference 
committee, relating to taxation of Internet access. It leaves in the 
dust the issue of trying to even out the taxation of sales on the 
Internet with sales at hardworking brick-and-mortar stores.
  For all of these reasons, all of them, I strongly urge a ``no'' vote.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Washington (Mr. Reichert), who is the chairman of the Trade 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. I thank 
him for his hard work, and Mr. Boustany, Mr. Tiberi, and other members 
of the committee, who have worked hard on this legislation, and, also, 
Members across the aisle who have come together to build this piece of 
legislation presented here today.

[[Page 20090]]

  I rise in strong support, Mr. Speaker, of this important legislation.
  In my home State of Washington, 40 percent of jobs are tied directly 
to trade. We are the most trade-dependent State in the country. This 
bill supports that trade and those jobs through the elimination of 
unnecessary roadblocks U.S. companies face when exporting and importing 
goods and the enhanced enforcement of our laws. And it lays the 
groundwork for the miscellaneous tariff bill, often called the MTB, 
which reduces costs on American manufacturers and supports jobs across 
this country.
  I am proud that this bill includes several provisions that I have 
championed with colleagues across the aisle from the Pacific Northwest, 
including outdoor recreation apparel provisions with my colleague from 
the State of Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), and the renewal of the State 
trade expansion program with my colleague from the State of Washington 
(Mr. Larsen). We have fought hard for those two provisions, and they 
are included in this legislation.
  That program helps small businesses grow by making it easier for them 
to sell their products across this world, which, of course, helps 
create jobs here in the United States. The more products we sell, the 
more jobs we create here at home. It has supported over 430 small 
businesses in Washington and 2,200 jobs.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join with me today in supporting 
American farmers, American workers, and businesses through stronger 
enforcement of our laws and streamlined trade.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez), another member of our 
committee.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. I 
am extremely frustrated that, after the long path to get us to the 
conference report before us today, I won't be able to support the bill.
  As I said during our conference committee meeting earlier this week: 
if Customs were truly all that this bill was about, it would pass 
overwhelmingly on the floor.
  I strongly support the bulk of what is in the final bill. Trade 
enforcement should always move in lockstep with our trade policy. It is 
only when countries live up to agreed-upon laws and regulations that we 
can truly have robust trade, but robust trade also requires strong 
enforcement.
  Particularly for me, I am pleased that the bulk of the ENFORCE Act is 
finally at the finish line after many years of work. One of my biggest 
priorities for several years has been finding a way to combat the 
blatant abuse and duty evasion by some foreign producers that undercut 
American industry. Foreign companies use schemes to avoid paying the 
duties they owe on goods that they bring into the United States.
  We will finally give some real teeth to our enforcement procedures 
and send the right message to domestic manufacturers, employers, and 
workers that this Congress cares about Customs enforcement. This idea 
doesn't hinder free trade. Instead, it promotes fair trade and sends a 
strong signal to foreign producers that the U.S. will not tolerate 
abuses of internationally agreed upon trade rules. By increasing our 
Customs security measures, we ensure that American companies that play 
by the rules are not disadvantaged as a result of evasion by foreign 
competitors.
  Unfortunately, unrelated TPA language included in the final bill will 
keep me from being able to support something that I have worked on for 
many, many years.
  In this bill, we fail to address currency manipulation in a 
meaningful way. The conference report also falls short in the areas of 
climate change and human trafficking. Specifically, we should not tie 
our hands when it comes to combating climate change, nor should we be 
rushing to increase our trade with countries that persist in allowing 
human trafficking. To me, these are not the values of this country. 
They are no-brainers, and they shouldn't be in this bill. But today, we 
fell short.
  For those reasons, I cannot support the final Customs package that we 
have before us today.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Tiberi), the former chairman of the Trade Subcommittee 
who played a key role in bringing forth this legislation.
  Mr. TIBERI. I thank the chairman for all his leadership on this going 
back years.
  Mr. Speaker, I introduced the Trade Facilitation and Trade 
Enforcement Act in April of this year, and it is great to see that this 
issue is finally getting done.
  I would really like to thank Speaker Ryan and, again, Chairman Brady; 
Chairman Reichert; a special thanks to Representative Boustany for his 
leadership going way back as well; and Jason Smith, the Congressman 
from Missouri, for his incredible work to get this bill in a better 
place. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Senate who 
helped make this a successful conference committee.
  This bill presents a long, long overdue opportunity. I would ask my 
colleagues to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
  In my home State of Ohio, one in five workers' jobs, Mr. Speaker, 
depends on trade. Trade drives our economy. In fact, exports from Ohio 
last year hit an all-time high. This bill will make it even easier for 
Ohio companies to trade and will increase exports, and that means 
increasing jobs in my State of Ohio.
  The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Act plays a pivotal role in 
helping ensure that our trade agreements, our preference programs, and 
our U.S. trade laws are enforced and that legitimate trade is done. 
Over the years, the volume and the complexity of trade and the 
challenges, such as combating evasion of duties and protecting U.S. 
intellectual property rights, have grown, and grow more complex.
  Meanwhile, we are facing increased competition around the world, and 
it is critical to keep the flow of trade moving efficiently.
  Customs issues are vital to our competitiveness, security, and 
safety.
  Streamlining legitimate trade and providing benefits to trusted 
traders will increase U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace.
  This bill would reduce barriers and burdens to our small and medium 
businesses that drive our economy, saving them time and money, and, 
again, create jobs.
  Another major pillar of this bill is strengthening enforcement of our 
trade remedy laws.
  Enforcing U.S. intellectual property rights, anti-dumping, and 
countervailing duty laws prevents our competitors from gaining an edge 
by cheating. When our competitors around the world don't play by the 
rules, we get hurt; our American businesses get hurt; and our American 
workers pay.
  When our American companies and American workers compete on a level 
playing field, they win; we win.
  This bill makes our trade remedies more effective by allowing our 
Customs agencies to take quick action against these bad actors, giving 
our businesses a fair opportunity to compete and win.
  This bill also contains a commitment to advancing a Miscellaneous 
Tariff Bill process. I strongly support that commitment, and will 
continue to work to find a path forward, Mr. Speaker. MTBs provide 
important relief to our manufacturers who import materials that have no 
domestic content or supply. The tariffs they pay--or the taxes, they 
are taxes--on these products make the entire manufacturing supply chain 
and the process more expensive to my constituents. The MTB process must 
be resolved in a way that is not only consistent with our House rules, 
but also our constitutional responsibilities.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. TIBERI. I am confident we can resolve these issues, Mr. Speaker. 
This

[[Page 20091]]

has been a long overdue bill that provides much modernization to our 
Customs process to make it easier for our manufacturers and our 
businesses and, ultimately, our workers, to export their products 
around the world. In the end, we win.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Trade 
Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, or the Customs bill. This 
legislation has historically been a bipartisan bill, but the majority 
has politicized the Customs legislation by adding several riders that 
would be harmful to our trade policy.
  The bill undermines our ability to address several of the most 
critical global issues that we face: climate change, human trafficking, 
and immigration. And it includes no meaningful method for dealing with 
one of the biggest causes of job loss and wage suppression in the 
United States: currency manipulation, which has cost our Nation over 5 
million jobs.
  Ironically, world leaders are concluding negotiations today in Paris 
at the largest climate summit in history. They are working hard to hash 
out an agreement that, as the Sierra Club has pointed out, will be 
undermined by the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. With the bill 
before us today, the United States will not be allowed to address 
greenhouse gas emissions in future trade negotiations. Imagine.
  The bill also contains no funding to support the enforcement and 
monitoring of our trade agreements, and it lacks any automatic 
mechanism for ensuring compliance with our trade rules. This 
administration has never self-initiated a trade complaint against any 
of our free trade partners. It takes years for the administration to 
bring a case against countries that subsidize or dump their product in 
our markets.
  Lack of enforcement of our trade agreements has plagued our country 
for decades. Despite environmental rules in the U.S.-Peru free trade 
agreement, the overwhelming majority of timber from Peru is illegally 
logged. Despite the labor rules in the Colombia free trade agreement, 
over 100 Colombian trade unionists have been murdered, 19 this year 
alone.
  This bill does not adequately address enforcement. It lacks the 
mechanisms for ensuring compliance with trade rules. As I said, no 
administration has ever self-initiated a labor or environmental trade 
complaint against any of our free trade partners. Why would we think 
that this would begin now?
  While this bill authorizes funding for enforcement, there is no 
guarantee that this funding will ever be provided. We already lack the 
critical funding to enforce our existing trade agreements. American 
workers cannot afford to suffer through additional losses as their jobs 
are shipped to countries that do not play by the rules.
  Worst of all, one day after International Human Rights Day, which was 
yesterday, this legislation contains a provision that will weaken U.S. 
efforts to curb human trafficking forced labor. The bill would allow 
for expedited consideration of a trade agreement with nations 
classified as the worst offenders of human trafficking.
  We have already seen the administration's willingness to do whatever 
it takes to secure a trade deal when it upgraded the human trafficking 
ranking of Malaysia to conclude the TPP negotiations. Malaysia was in 
the same category as Iran just 5 months ago. Where are our values with 
regard to human life?
  The biggest problem with our economy today is that too many Americans 
are in jobs that do not pay them enough to live on. They are 
struggling. One of the main reasons for this is several decades of bad 
trade policy that has shipped millions of jobs overseas, like the 
policies in this Customs bill and the TPP.

                              {time}  1130

  People in this body like to say that all of the job losses and the 
wage depression are because of technology and globalization. It is. It 
is because of the policy choices we have made over the years. It is 
time for us to rewrite the rules.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, millions of jobs are at stake as is the 
fate of our country's economy. Working class families in this Nation 
are struggling just to get by. Men and women are scraping together 
meager earnings to put food on their tables, to warm their homes, and 
to take care of their kids. They can't think about sending their kids 
to college. They can't think about vacations or retirement security.
  We need to decide if we are going to rebuild a land of access and 
opportunity, where anyone who is willing to work hard and to play by 
the rules can find a good job that can support a family. There is no 
reason to make bad trade policy even worse. This legislation, with 
enforcement gaps and harmful negotiating objectives is unacceptable. We 
can and should do better for working people. I urge my colleagues to 
vote ``no.''
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), who has played a key role in 
strengthening trade enforcement in this bill.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. I thank Chairman Brady, Chairman Tiberi, Chairman 
Reichert, Congressman Jason Smith, and others on the committee, as well 
as staff, for helping make this legislation--finally, this conference 
report--a reality that will become law.
  Mr. Speaker, today, Louisiana's seafood industry is being severely 
injured by illegal foreign imports. Right now, the fundamental issue is 
economic growth. How do we empower our seafood producers, our farmers, 
and our manufacturers to grow their businesses? to create opportunity? 
to grow this economy? The legislation before us today is important 
because, as we seek to expand market access for all of our businesses 
and our farmers, we need seamless trade facilitation and strong 
enforcement if we are going to achieve that economic growth.
  This bill contains language from my PROTECT Act, providing new tools 
for the relevant Federal agencies, for legitimate importers and 
distributors, and for trade-affected domestic industries to prevent and 
combat fraud at our border, not after the fact. That is a key 
distinction and a key piece of this legislation. It will allow our 
seafood producers, our farmers, and our manufacturers to compete on a 
fair playing field here in our American domestic market as we seek open 
market access abroad for them as well.
  Additionally, crawfish processors in my State of Louisiana have 
suffered for 15 years because of the unfair dumping of crawfish from 
China and other illegal sources. In effect, the administration punished 
domestic crawfish producers by forcing them to pay for the delays 
caused by Chinese dumpers, by the U.S. insurance companies that posted 
bond for the duties, and, in some cases, by the Customs and Border 
Patrol, itself. This bill contains an important fix that will make sure 
that our crawfish producers are paid what they are owed.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation, this Customs reauthorization 
conference report, will make necessary improvements, not only to ensure 
fraud is prevented at our border, but so that our American industries 
are treated fairly. I urge its support.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Kind), a distinguished member of our committee.
  Mr. KIND. I thank my friend from Michigan for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, as a member of the committee and as someone who has been 
involved in the negotiations of the legislation before us, I rise in 
strong support of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act.
  The bill that we have before us today is not the bill that came out 
of the House in June. There are much-needed improvements. As we debate 
trade policy and where we are going in the 21st century global economy, 
we need strong enforcement mechanisms so that, when we get standards in 
these trade agreements that elevate it as

[[Page 20092]]

being up to us to level the playing field for our workers, for our 
businesses, and for our farmers, we have the tools to ensure that those 
standards are enforced on an appropriate basis, so we are able to 
counter unfair trade practices as they are applied against us. That is 
exactly what is in this bill right now. This bill will end any 
importation of products that are made from the exploitation of child 
and forced labor, for instance.
  This bill also includes the ENFORCE Act, additional tools to enforce 
the provisions that we do negotiate in future trade agreements.
  This bill establishes the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center for 
greater coordination between our agencies in order to enforce 
provisions that we negotiate in trade agreements.
  It establishes an enforcement trust fund, which is due to the hard 
work my friend and colleague from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) put in, so 
that there are dedicated resources in order to enforce the provisions 
that we fought to achieve.
  It establishes a Super 301 section--again, enhancing the enforcement 
on those standards that many of us have been fighting for: core labor, 
environmental, human rights protections--in the body of these trade 
agreements, which are fully enforceable like any other provision. That 
Super 301 will give us tools that will enable us to move forward on 
that.
  It also establishes a State Trade and Export Promotion Program--
reauthorizing it and funding it--to make it easier for our small 
businesses and our manufacturers back home to be able to export more 
easily. We know that those exporting companies typically pay their 
workers, roughly, 18 to 19 percent above other workers within that 
sector; so it is a win for our small businesses back home.
  It is not a perfect bill. It is the product of compromise and 
bipartisanship. I think it advances the ball when it comes to key 
enforcement. I encourage my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), who played a key role in the language 
defending our friend and ally Israel.
  Mr. ROSKAM. I thank Chairman Brady.
  Mr. Speaker, a couple of years ago, Israel's Ambassador Michael Oren 
wrote an opinion piece that got my attention, and he described the 
waves of attempts to wipe Israel off the map.
  He said the first wave was military, and we know how that worked: 
Israel's enemies worked together, and they were not successful in 
defeating Israel back in 1948. The second wave was a wave of terror. 
That is still ongoing, but that wave has not been successful. Yet there 
is a third wave, and the third wave is, actually, more insidious. The 
third wave is a movement called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions 
Movement. It is an attempt to take away Israel's legitimacy, to hold 
Israel to a standard to which no other country in the world is held.
  So let's not kid ourselves that this is an attempt to drive Israel to 
the negotiating table--this movement, that is. It is an attempt to wipe 
Israel off the map. It is the smart, long move for the haters of 
Israel.
  But, today, in this bill, the House is saying we stand with Israel. 
We stand with Israel, and we are pushing back. We are making it the 
official policy of the United States, along with the Trade Promotion 
Authority Act, which says we are going to push back against state-
sponsored BDS activities. There is good work here.
  Mr. Speaker, there are many times when people ask: Can't people get 
along in Congress? The answer is, yes, we can. This is strongly 
supported on a bipartisan basis, and it does two things in particular 
that I want to bring your attention to:
  Number one, it works to protect American companies from foreign 
lawsuits, which is incredibly important because of our strong 
commercial relationship with the Israelis. Secondly, it has a reporting 
requirement, so it makes the administration more mindful, and we are 
going to have more information.
  I thank Congressman Vargas, who was a coauthor with me in some of the 
underlying legislation that was adopted by Chairman Brady and others. I 
thank all of the conferees.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 13 minutes 
remaining, and the gentleman from Texas has 16\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), who has played a key role in advancing 
our entire progrowth trade agenda.
  Mr. PAULSEN. I thank the chairman for moving this bill forward and 
getting it one step closer to law after his long-term engagement in 
trade facilitation.
  Mr. Speaker and Members, trade facilitation and trade is key to 
growing our economy. This bill makes needed reforms to our Customs 
procedures; it strengthens enforcement measures behind our trade 
agreements; and it removes unnecessary barriers to trade.
  The bill couldn't come at a more important time. Think about it. We 
are in the midst of the opportunity to complete two of the most 
ambitious trade agreements in our Nation's history: one with countries 
in the Pacific Rim and the other with our allies in the European Union. 
The United States used to be at the top. We were at the top for our 
efficiency and trade and logistics and moving goods across the border, 
but our Customs procedures have become outdated, and we have slipped. 
Now we have too much paperwork and too much inefficiency. This 
bipartisan bill streamlines and modernizes our Customs system to get us 
back on track.
  Why is trade important? Of course, the answer is very simple: It is 
about jobs.
  Trade supports one in five American jobs. In my State of Minnesota, 
more than 774,000 jobs are connected to trade; so trade is driving our 
economy. Many of these jobs are held by people who do work at small- 
and medium-sized businesses, which are the backbone of our economy. In 
fact, 98 percent of all American exporters are small- or medium-sized 
employers. These are jobs that pay more. They pay higher than average 
wages, and they pay better salaries for American workers.
  In addition to supporting American jobs, the Customs bill also 
includes stronger enforcement tools that are essential to the trade 
agreements that we have with other countries so that they don't cheat. 
It provides fair and strong rules to hold other countries accountable 
for their unfair trade practices, and it will help tear down barriers 
that unfairly block our goods from foreign markets.
  Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I am excited to see the Customs bill 
move forward on a bipartisan basis. It will improve trade facilitation 
so as to move goods and services more efficiently.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), a key member of the Ways and Means Committee 
who is focused on American agriculture and American outerwear.
  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of the 
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
  This legislation will update and streamline our country's Customs and 
Border policies to facilitate trade and enhance U.S. competitiveness. 
Included in the bill are a number of additional, commonsense 
provisions.
  For example, the bill fixes a technical error which inadvertently 
increased the tariff rates on outerwear. Not only is this fix important 
to producers, retailers, and consumers, but it also brings the U.S. 
back into compliance with our commitments under the General Agreement 
on Tariffs and Trade.
  While I am disappointed we couldn't find a path forward on the 
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process, I am pleased the bill contains 
language in support of continued work on this issue.

[[Page 20093]]

  The conference report also takes important steps to strengthen Trade 
Promotion Authority. TPA is necessary to ensure that the U.S. gets the 
best possible deal in trade negotiations as we move forward, and these 
agreements should leverage our country's comparative advantages in all 
industries, certainly including energy.
  For this reason, I was happy to see the inclusion of language to 
prevent the administration from using trade agreements to negotiate 
very costly greenhouse gas emission rules in the United States. I also 
want to make sure Nebraska producers can make the most of the 
opportunities provided by a level playing field in order to increase 
exports.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Doggett), another distinguished member of our committee.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, this Customs bill fails totally to address 
a custom that is the custom of the USTR: saying one thing and doing 
another.
  Were it possible to legislate trust, to legislate candor, to 
legislate fidelity to public duty, I would be the most enthusiastic 
supporter this bill could have. Unfortunately, this proposal represents 
only a very thin, see-through window dressing for a runaway bureaucracy 
that is pursuing its own multinational corporate agenda and ignoring 
the public interest.
  The USTR, in its history, has never successfully challenged an 
environmental abuse. Though the USTR has been charged since February 
2009 with preventing trade in illegal logging and in the destruction of 
Peruvian rain forests, the Environmental Investigation Agency recently 
reported: ``Illegal logging in Peru and the associated trade remains a 
serious and unabated problem.'' There has been a ``complete failure to 
enforce these obligations . . .'' One such obligation is a very simple 
audit to demonstrate whether logs are being harvested legally or 
illegally. I have specifically asked the USTR repeatedly to just 
produce the audit so we can see, and they have refused to provide that 
documentation or to admit that their enforcement has totally failed to 
do that simple matter. Meanwhile, coffins with the names of brave 
Peruvian inspectors are being dragged through the streets.
  The USTR trumpets its environmental successes; yet the Peruvian 
Government is being rewarded for going backward, not forward, on the 
environment.

                              {time}  1145

  USTR has never successfully challenged worker abuses. Almost 8 years 
after the Administration received a complaint about serious abuses in 
Guatemala, such as the right to work and join with other workers 
without being murdered, USTR has not remedied the complaint.
  In Honduras, USTR announced with great fanfare just by coincidence 
yesterday that, after 3 long years of delay on child labor and other 
abuses, it had a new plan. Well, it is the same type of plan that 
failed in Guatemala. We don't need new public relation plans. We need 
to enforce the law effectively.
  What reason is there conceivably to believe that Vietnam, a country 
with one union that is only a branch of the Communist Party, will 
somehow fulfill its trade obligations under the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership for a complete overhaul of its system when it takes the 
Administration almost 8 years to address Guatemala labor concerns? More 
likely, we will simply be joining another race to the bottom with a 60-
cent-per-hour Vietnamese wage.
  Just as it lacked the will to enforce environmental and working 
conditions, USTR prioritized trade even when that meant excusing 
modern-day slave trade in corrupt Malaysia. The bureaucratic 
manipulation and indifference to human trafficking in Asia is 
disgraceful.
  The only thing that is transparent about USTR is the ease of seeing 
through its propaganda. Certainly, I am very concerned about climate 
change, but the real climate that needs changing when it comes to our 
trade policy is the climate of indifference and secrecy at USTR.
  I ask that you vote against this bill in order to develop a true pro-
trade, 21st-century American policy that reflects our basic American 
values and protects our jobs.
  Mr. LEVIN. If the chairman does not mind, I would like to yield to 
the distinguished leader. Is that okay, Mr. Chairman?
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Yes, sir.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield 1 minute to 
the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our distinguished leader.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for 
his leadership on behalf of America's working families. I thank the 
chairman of the committee for his courtesy in enabling me to speak at 
this time.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress has a responsibility to stand with American 
manufacturing and to help create good-paying jobs for the hardworking 
families who are the backbone of our country. The middle class is the 
backbone of our democracy. In order to have fair trade, we must have 
robust tools to enforce the obligations of our trading partners.
  This legislation began as a strong, bipartisan trade enforcement 
bill. It has degenerated into a vehicle for all of the toxic, special 
interest promises that have been made to secure passage of the TPA. 
They have poisoned a strong trade enforcement bill with their denial of 
the climate crisis, with their turning a blind eye on human 
trafficking, and with their refusal to address the foreign currency 
manipulation that destroys millions of American jobs.
  In terms of the climate crisis, congressional Republicans refuse to 
acknowledge the truth of the climate crisis. Pope Francis, on his visit 
here and even before he came and since, has made this climate crisis a 
priority. It was the subject of his encyclical. He has said that he is 
praying for the success of the historic Paris Climate Summit.
  Faith leaders from the evangelical community and across the board are 
urging us to answer our moral responsibility to preserve God's 
creation. It is our responsibility. As God's creation, we have a 
responsibility to be good stewards of it and to do so in a way that 
does not hurt the poor and their presentations.
  Just look at what is happening in Paris as opposed to what is 
happening here. In Paris, 195 nations have convened to address the 
climate crisis that threatens the health of our communities and the 
future that we leave our children. It is about air pollution. 186 
nations have submitted plans to address the climate crisis and the air 
pollution. 146 world leaders personally attended the conference.
  Yet, with this Customs bill, Republicans would bar our trade 
negotiators from even discussing climate in the context of a trade 
agreement. You cannot separate climate and commerce. We cannot accept 
Republicans' willful blindness to this connection and to the reality of 
the climate crisis.
  Our trade negotiations must honor our values as a Nation. America 
must stand as a bulwark against the atrocity of human trafficking 
wherever it is found.
  In the week that we mark the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment 
abolishing slavery in the United States or anyplace subject to our 
jurisdiction, this legislation allows countries with documented forced 
labor practices and brutal human trafficking to enjoy the benefits of 
free trade and full access to our markets.
  In the Trade Promotion Authority legislation, we prohibited fast-
track procedures for trade agreements with countries ranked tier 3 in 
the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, which are nations 
with the worst human rights records. That is in the TPA. Yet, in this 
bill, we weaken that standard, say, for example, for Malaysia and for 
other nations failing to address human trafficking.
  In terms of currency, Republicans continue to allow foreign currency 
manipulation to devastate the competitiveness of goods made in America, 
stealing jobs from American workers.

[[Page 20094]]

The American Policy Institute estimates that foreign currency 
manipulation has already cost millions of American jobs and threatens 
hundreds of thousands more in the coming years.
  We need strong, enforceable currency standards in our Customs laws. 
Yet, Republicans have stripped out this tough, bipartisan provision, 
cracking down on currency manipulation in the Senate bill. It is time 
to crack down on countries who have manipulated their currencies for 
years to protect their industries and undercut American jobs. In any 
trade legislation, our top responsibility must be to strengthen the 
paychecks of America's workers.
  Since I have lost my voice, let us reject this deeply flawed bill.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Missouri (Mr. Smith), a member of the Ways and Means Committee who 
is fighting for American agriculture, furniture, and other local 
businesses.
  Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 
conference report.
  Right now there are over 120 antidumping and countervailing duty 
cases against China. When China violates the rules of international 
trade, small- and medium-sized manufacturers in Missouri and across 
America are harmed. The ENFORCE Act included in this report would 
strengthen America's ability to identify and go after those who break 
international law.
  One company in Missouri found itself unfairly competing against an 
illegal product originating from China, but using a fake address. The 
ENFORCE Act allows this company to now take real and meaningful action 
against foreign perpetrators.
  This spring, as the Ways and Means Committee worked on TPA, there 
were many constructive conversations about what our trade enforcement 
bill was going to look like. I am grateful to Speaker Ryan, Chairman 
Brady, Mr. Tiberi, and Mr. Boustany for their willingness to work with 
me to get the ENFORCE Act included in this bill. It was a team effort, 
and the bill we have before us reflects that.
  American workers and American products can compete with anybody in 
the world. When countries cheat, our manufacturers are significantly 
harmed. This bill helps end those unfair practices.
  I urge my colleagues to support the conference report.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, could the Chair tell us the time remaining on 
both sides.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 8 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Texas has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, by the way, I thank Chairman Brady for 
allowing the leader to go out of turn.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding and for 
his and other members of the Ways and Means Committee's outstanding 
work on this legislation. I am here to talk about another aspect of it.
  Time is short. A temporary ban on State taxation of Internet access 
is expiring. Section 922 of the conference report aids taxpayers by 
making this ban permanent.
  If the ban on Internet access taxes is not renewed, the potential tax 
burden on Americans would be substantial. It is estimated that Internet 
access tax rates could be more than twice the average rate of all other 
goods and services. Low-income households could pay 10 times as much as 
high-income households as a share of income.
  Congress has passed numerous temporary bans with enormous bipartisan 
support. Earlier this year a permanent ban passed the House by voice 
vote.
  Section 922 merely prevents Internet access taxes and unfair multiple 
or discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. It does not tackle the issue of 
Internet sales taxes. My committee is working assiduously on that issue 
and making progress.
  Studies show that taxes affect Internet adoption rates. As price 
rises, demand falls. The Internet has become an indispensable gateway 
to scientific, educational, and economic opportunities. Section 922 
preserves unfettered access to one of the most unique gateways to 
knowledge and engines of self-improvement in all of human history.
  I thank the conferees for including this protaxpayer collision. I 
urge my colleagues' support.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), a distinguished member of our committee.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill today, 
which is in a much better form than the bill I opposed this summer. 
Yes, there are still terrible, extraneous provisions.
  Climate is the worst example, but that is actually going to be more 
of an embarrassment to my Republican friends in the future, that they 
trotted this out at a time that the rest of the world is working in 
Paris to try and deal with it. As a practical matter, it is not going 
to make that much difference.
  I disagree with my learned friend, the ranking member. There will not 
be a reason that we can't harmonize, for example, fuel standards. There 
are lots of reasons to do that. The Trans-Pacific Partnership's 
deforestation provisions will probably have as much impact on fighting 
climate change as anything that is going on in Paris.
  Peru is still troubling. I fought hard for those provisions. As 
recently as this week, I have been pushing on the administration to do 
more. It is certainly better than if we hadn't enacted those provisions 
before. As a matter of fact, that is why we have worked so hard to 
establish the trust fund.
  I appreciate the cooperation of my friend, the chairman, who has 
worked hard to make sure there is guaranteed funding for the next 10 
years, $30 million a year, when the whole USTR budget is less than $60 
million.
  These trade enforcement provisions are complex, they are expensive, 
they are tedious, and they are hard. It takes money to do it. This 
provision includes--the legislation that I worked on with Senator 
Cantwell--being able to make sure we can do a better job of enforcing 
it.
  The bill is not perfect, but it is much better than what we had this 
summer. It represents movement in directions that we can all take pride 
in. There are a number of provisions that make a huge difference for 
the people I represent in the Pacific Northwest as well as modernizing 
the Customs provisions.
  Mr. Speaker, I respectfully suggest that this is a step forward. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues to make sure that it is, in 
fact, enforced in the future so that we can get the benefits people are 
talking about.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds.
  I do want to thank the gentleman from Oregon for his very thoughtful, 
constructive efforts to help us craft the right trade enforcement 
remedies. Going forward, I look forward to working with you on other 
trade remedy issues.
  I appreciate the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) whose hard 
work, along with that of the Michigan delegation, enhanced our hand on 
currency manipulation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan 
(Mrs. Miller).
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I come from southeast Michigan, 
which is home of America's domestic auto industry where we build 
absolutely the finest quality cars and trucks on Earth. We know our 
products can compete against anyone anywhere in the world. All we ask 
for is a level playing field.

                              {time}  1200

  Unfortunately, American car companies have suffered decades of 
economic devastation due to unfair currency manipulation practices from 
overseas competitors, like Japan, China, and South Korea.
  That is why I support this bill, Mr. Speaker. After decades of doing 
nothing--decades of doing nothing--this bill contains very strong 
measures to protect American products from nations that manipulate 
their currency.

[[Page 20095]]

  Now, there will be a three-part test that will identify countries 
that manipulate their currency and, once identified, they must be 
reported to Congress, and action must be taken.
  I certainly appreciate the help of the House leadership as well as 
the Committee on Ways and Means, because these provisions will level 
the playing field, Mr. Speaker.
  All of us want free trade, but it must be fair trade.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Mrs. Dingell).
  Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise with nothing but the utmost respect 
for my colleague from Michigan and agree with her on the need to 
address currency manipulation.
  Mr. Speaker, when the Committee on Ways and Means first began 
considering this bill, it represented a real opportunity to improve our 
system of trade and eliminate loopholes that allow foreign nations and 
bad actors to avoid our trade laws. Currency manipulation is the number 
one trade abuse that must be addressed.
  Unfortunately, this bill has become the Christmas tree of the holiday 
season, and it is being used to put lipstick on the pig that is our 
current trade negotiations. It ties our negotiators' hands on even 
negotiating common emissions standards by restricting any consideration 
of climate issues, and it prevents them from negotiating immigration-
related language as well. Further, it weakens existing trade laws 
designed to prevent human trafficking.
  The ribbon on this Christmas surprise is a totally new provision on 
Internet taxation that isn't even in the jurisdiction of the Committee 
on Ways and Means and could have unintended consequences that could 
bankrupt local governments.
  There are good provisions at the core of this bill to help improve 
our Customs system, but they are outweighed by the political 
gamesmanship that has made this legislation impossible to support. We 
have seen far too many other examples of last-minute political 
provisions inserted in bills over the years, and we risk unintended 
consequences of these political provisions as well.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. King), who worked hard to ensure that trade agreements 
are for expanding trade, not expanding immigration.
  Mr. KING of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Committee 
on Ways and Means--and I am delighted he is the chairman of the 
Committee on Ways and Means--for yielding.
  I rise in support of the conference report of the Customs bill. It 
has got many provisions within it which I am happy about and happy to 
support. The currency manipulation provision is one of them.
  I am pleased to be here to be able to say that there were those that 
had significant heartburn over trade promotion authority. I am one of 
them. There were two provisions that I so badly wanted to be included 
within the TPA legislation, because I have a bit of a history of 
working to keep the immigration components out of trade deals. Congress 
needs to be passing immigration law, not trade negotiators.
  Well, that language is an amendment that is in here in the conference 
report, along with language that prohibits the negotiations under trade 
promotion authority on climate change. So we are protected from 
executive decisions imposed upon this Congress and a usurpation of 
article I authority by two pieces of language in here: No negotiations 
under TPA can include climate change under this language; and no 
negotiations under TPA can include immigration.
  Congress can speak to that, but they cannot negotiate that under TPA. 
That is very important to me. It is important to a lot of people across 
this country. I am standing here saying thank you to now-Speaker Ryan, 
who negotiated this with me and others. He regrets that he wasn't able 
to shake my hand as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. That 
is fine with me, Mr. Speaker.
  I am happy to shake the hand of Kevin Brady as chairman of the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and say to a number of people who had 
significant apprehension about whether this would come together on all 
of the language necessary to get support for trade promotion authority, 
to say to them upon the passage of this conference report here today 
and the anticipated signature, merry Christmas to all of you who wanted 
to step down the line to preserve article I authority for the United 
States Congress.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Poe), my friend and colleague and neighbor.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I support free and fair trade. Where I 
come from in Houston, Texas, we are an export city. We make a lot of 
things, and we sell them all over the world, so I support trade.
  Let's go back to the year 1898, Mr. Speaker. The Spanish-American War 
existed then. To help finance the war, Congress taxed a newfangled 
contraption called the telephone. The war was over. Teddy Roosevelt and 
the Rough Riders had stormed San Juan Hill before the tax was actually 
completely collected, but World War I came around, and the tax 
reemerged.
  Mr. Speaker, that war tax over 100 years ago is still on your 
telephone bill. You pick up your phone bill, and if you have a 
landline, you are still paying that war tax.
  The point being, Mr. Speaker, once Congress imposes a tax, it seems 
like it never goes away. But, shock, in this legislation, it prohibits 
a tax that is already being collected in some States. Some States tax 
Internet access.
  This bill does away with that tax. But it fairly allows States like 
Texas to phase it out until 2020. Good compromise. So let's eliminate a 
tax on Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, don't get too excited. We may be eliminating one tax, 
but that war tax over 100 years ago that was implemented-still exists. 
Maybe we will get around to eliminating that eventually.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, free trade is enforceable trade.
  I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), who 
has fought for enforceable trade laws.
  Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the 
conference report before us. Manufacturing is critical to the Hoosier 
economy and my district. A study by the Economic Policy Institute found 
that manufacturing jobs account for almost 17 percent of all jobs in 
Indiana. That is the highest rate in the Nation. Manufacturing jobs 
account for 23.1 percent of the jobs in my district, second highest in 
the Nation.
  This legislation will make our manufacturers so much more competitive 
by eliminating the red tape and removing supply chain bottlenecks. It 
provides new tools to tackle evasion of U.S. trade remedies and 
intellectual property theft.
  To be sure, I would like to have seen a new miscellaneous tariff bill 
process, and I thank the new chairman for his commitment to finding a 
path forward on that. But, Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly urge my 
colleagues to support this legislation that will help manufacturers in 
my district and across the country.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Michigan for his 
graciousness. I rise in support of the Trade Facilitation and Trade 
Enforcement Act of 2015. It is a significant improvement over the 
original Customs bill, which I opposed.
  There are human trafficking reporting requirements that have been 
added. There is currency language that expands U.S. action on currency 
manipulation. It codifies the ENFORCE Act, some of the most strict 
enforcement provisions ever on trade by U.S. legislation. It creates an 
interagency trade enforcement center. It creates a trade

[[Page 20096]]

enforcement trust fund. It provides protections for small businesses 
and bans child and forced labor.
  I would prefer to see stronger proenvironmental provisions, but this 
enforcement bill, trade enforcement bill is a significant move forward. 
I am pleased to support the underlying legislation and the conference 
report. I thank all who contributed to it.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 4 minutes 
remaining. The gentleman from Texas also has 4 minutes remaining.
  Mr. LEVIN. I yield myself the remaining time.
  Mr. Speaker, let me first address climate change. It is interesting 
that some of the people who speak in favor say how regrettable it is 
that this provision is even here. The gentleman from Iowa made clear 
why this provision is here. It was an effort to get votes for TPA.
  My feeling is, no matter how people voted on TPA, they should oppose 
this conference report. One of the reasons relates to global warming. 
It is really disgraceful this provision is here at the same time 
virtually everybody in the world is trying to address climate change.
  I just want to read the exact language. It says: to ensure that trade 
agreements do not establish obligations for the U.S. regarding 
greenhouse gas emission measures.
  That is the exact language. There is no way to fuzz it over. There is 
no way to fuzz it over.
  Let me just, then, say a word about currency. This conference report 
deletes a meaningful, very, very concrete way to address currency 
manipulation. The language here in this conference bill just 
essentially, in the end, says nothing that is meaningful.
  It says: If the President determines there is a problem with a 
country's currency--it won't even mention the words ``currency 
manipulation''--then the President shall do such-and-such--things he 
can already do--and there is a waiver for the President if he doesn't 
want to take any of the steps.
  The currency provision essentially takes away what was in the Senate 
bill, and we passed the same or a similar measure a number of years 
ago. So that is as to currency. This is very much in the wrong 
direction.
  The same is true in terms of human trafficking. Essentially what it 
says is: If a country is in tier 3--the worst in terms of human 
trafficking--and takes some concrete steps, they can still receive all 
the benefits of a trade negotiation, even if they still have the most 
egregious conditions in their country on human trafficking, both sex 
and labor human trafficking. That is really also, I think, worse than 
unwarranted.
  Let me just finish by saying a few words about enforcement. I guess 
no one has worked, if I might say, more than I have in terms of 
enforceability. The provisions that we have put in place--for example, 
those regarding worker rights, environment, and medicines--need to be 
enforced. The problem with this legislation is, in most of the cases, 
it really doesn't change anything much, if at all.
  As I said earlier, it establishes an enforcement center that is 
already existing. It renews Super 301. There is no need to do that. The 
administration has the ability to do that already. It does set up an 
enforcement trust fund, but there is no appropriation of the money. 
Enforcement is already underappropriated. So now we are setting up a 
new trust fund without any indication that it is going to be 
appropriated.
  This bill is very close in spirit and in language to the bill that 
almost all of us on the Democratic side voted against. I urge strong 
opposition to this conference report.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Expanding trade and giving our American workers and companies more 
opportunities around the world creates jobs here in America: better 
paychecks, better opportunities, and a stronger economy for our 
country. Critical to that is to make sure our trade agreements and 
trade rules are enforced. That is what this bill is all about.
  This bill establishes the strongest enforcement and revenue laws ever 
put on the books in the United States of America. It incorporates 
issues against currency manipulation; protections and remedies on a 
number of other areas within our economy that never before have been 
placed into effect; and it creates a working trust fund, a source of 
existing revenue, to focus on enforcing those rules.
  It also streamlines the way we do trade in America. That is important 
as well, because it is important for consumers to lower prices. It is 
important for our local businesses as they manufacture products to sell 
and compete both here in America and around the world. In fact, it has 
been more than a decade since we have reauthorized Customs and those 
processes.
  This is about modernizing it, making it more efficient, more 
effective, more accountable, all of which helps grow our economy and 
helps working class families.
  As important from our side of the aisle, this fulfills the commitment 
of then-chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Paul Ryan, and our 
leadership to the Members in the House to make this an even better law. 
And we have succeeded, working with Representatives King and Sessions 
on immigration language, to make sure this is a trade-only agreement; 
working with members of the Steel Caucus--Representatives Barletta, 
Murphy, Davis, Bost, and many others--to ensure that we have strong 
remedies in those areas; working with Representative Miller and the 
Michigan delegation against currency manipulation; working successfully 
with Representative Zinke of Montana to make sure there is strong 
oversight of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and we have 
more access to negotiating rounds; working with Chairman Royce of 
California on human trafficking; working with Chairman Chabot of Ohio 
on small business provisions; working with Mr. Crenshaw of Florida to 
ensure that there are trade preferences for Nepal as they struggle in 
this bill; and working with Mr. Walden, Mr. Reichert, Mr. Reed, and Mr. 
Boustany on key provisions.
  I say all that to make the case this is a bipartisan measure. It is 
thoughtful, it is effective, it is long overdue, and it is important to 
expanding trade and making that effective here in America. I urge its 
support.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, today, we are making critical changes to 
our domestic trade laws to ensure that U.S. companies compete on a 
level playing field. Manufacturers in my district have suffered a 
competitive disadvantage from trade cheaters in China and other foreign 
countries that don't follow the trade rules we already have on the 
books.
  Unfortunately, there are companies in China who cheat. American 
companies cannot compete with products that are subsidized by foreign 
governments and therefore priced below market value. American companies 
waste valuable time and legal fees bringing cases against unfairly 
subsidized products that are dumped into the United States. When 
American companies win these dumping cases, they deserve to have the 
penalties enforced.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, American companies have not been 
competing on a level playing field. Those same trade cheaters that 
dumped their goods into our U.S. markets are adding insult to injury by 
evading the duty or penalty. When they ship the product from a country 
that doesn't have a penalty for dumping, they are skipping out on 
paying the penalty for cheating in the first place.
  We need a better referee to level the playing field. We need the 
penalties to be enforced. That's why I negotiated for the inclusion of 
the ENFORCE Act in the final Customs Bill and defended their importance 
throughout this Conference process.
  This bill will ensure that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must 
investigate cases of duty evasion within 300 days. If for some reason 
CBP begins rubberstamping these decisions, the company can go to a U.S. 
court to have the case reviewed. These are critical reforms that are 
necessary to ensure that American companies are on a level playing 
field. I thank my colleagues and friends Mr. McHenry, Mr. Tiberi, 
Chairman Brady,

[[Page 20097]]

Speaker Ryan, Dr. Boustany, Mr. Smith, and the Steel Caucus for working 
with me on this important reform.
  Every foreign company wants to sell their goods on American store 
shelves to American consumers. We must make sure we have the tools we 
need at the border to prevent foreign trade cheaters from sneaking 
their goods onto our shelves without paying the appropriate duties. We 
must protect American manufacturers and American jobs from trade 
cheaters.
  Additionally, I urge support for this bill because of critical 
protections against misguided attempts to use trade agreements to 
rewrite our domestic immigration laws and environmental regulations. 
While this bill is not perfect, the permanent improvements to our trade 
laws and the bans on misuse of trade agreements make it worthy of our 
support.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise my opposition to H.R. 
644 the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.
  In August, China devalued the renmibi by 4.4 percent which caused a 
drastic drop in the U.S. stock market. Currency manipulation has real 
life consequences and affects U.S. jobs and our economy. When China 
devalues their currency, U.S. exports rise in price and our workers and 
consumers suffer.
  Considering the implications of currency manipulation, it is baffling 
that this bill does not have any Currency CVD provisions but instead 
inserts legally insignificant terms that are unenforceable. Rather than 
focus on protecting the American economy and jobs, Republicans have 
used H.R. 644 to weaken CVD provisions, eliminate text which prohibits 
imports made by forced or child labor and to insert partisan language 
to limit future discussions on climate change.
  What started as a strong bill with wide bipartisan support has 
degenerated into a weak bill that does not shield our economy from the 
machinations of foreign governments. And for that Mr. Speaker, I must 
oppose this legislation.
  Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 644, the Trade 
Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. This bill is an improvement on 
the previous version that I opposed in June.
  For the past several years I have had many conversations with the 
people of Northwest Oregon about growing jobs and increasing exports. 
I've heard from workers, business owners, environmentalists, and others 
about the importance of enforcing and strengthening our existing trade 
laws and agreements. Strong trade facilitation and enforcement will 
keep other nations accountable for the labor and environmental 
standards we set and give the United States the ability to take swift 
action against those who seek to engage in unscrupulous trade 
practices.
  The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act earned my support 
because it includes provisions that are important for my constituents 
and for employers in Oregon, and because it provides resources and 
tools to take action against trade cheats.
  This bill incorporates the ENFORCE Act to require quick action on 
allegations of evasion of duties, dumping, and improper subsidies. A 
special enforcement fund would provide up to $30 million each year 
dedicated to enforcing trade agreements and making sure trading 
partners meet their commitments.
  It permanently establishes the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center 
to pursue across-agency enforcement of domestic trade rights and trade 
laws. There are also strong provisions to put an end to importation of 
products made by child and forced labor.
  Oregon receives funding through the State Trade and Export Promotion 
(STEP) grant program to help small businesses find new markets for 
their products and boost job growth. This legislation reauthorizes STEP 
through 2020 and increases its funding to expand small business 
exports.
  The Pacific Northwest is known for its great outdoors and 
recreational opportunities in the mountains, forests, beaches, rivers, 
and on the coast. Recreational outerwear businesses thrive in our 
region, marketing outerwear and active wear to sporting enthusiasts 
around the world. This legislation includes provisions that will make 
these products more competitive and reverse a scheduled increase in 
tariffs for small and medium-sized outdoor industry businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, as I said at the outset, this is not a perfect bill, but 
it is a bipartisan compromise. On the heels of the historic Paris 
Climate Agreement, our nation will continue to lead the world in 
addressing climate change; the language in this legislation will not 
change that.
  The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act is a step forward 
and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure 
that our nation has strong enforcement mechanisms to ensure our 
employers and workers can compete on a level playing field in the 
global economy.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 560, the previous question is ordered.


                           Motion to Recommit

  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the conference 
report?
  Mr. DOGGETT. Yes, Mr. Speaker. Given all the injustices promoted by 
this conference report, I am strongly opposed to it.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to 
recommit.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Doggett moves to recommit the conference report on the 
     bill H.R. 644 to the committee on conference with 
     instructions to the managers on the part of the House to--
       (1) disagree to subsections (b) and (e) of section 914 of 
     the conference substitute recommended by the committee of 
     conference; and
       (2) insist on sections 701 through 706 of the Senate 
     amendment to the bill as passed the House.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The motion is not debatable.
  Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the motion to 
recommit.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, and the 
order of the House of today, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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