[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 5990-5991]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                       TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, it is said that, when the plan for the 
ancient city of Alexandria was presented to the great Alexander, his 
master builder pointed with pride to an ingenious way to honor the 
city's namesake. All of the city's water supply would be channeled to 
one great central fountain featuring a giant statue of Alexander and 
then flow from it to the surrounding city.
  When Alexander seemed unimpressed, his architect explained the 
symbolism. Water, the life's blood of the city, would flow from 
Alexander to Alexandria. Alexander replied, ``But water is not the 
life's blood of a city. Commerce is the life's blood of a city.'' The 
statue of Alexander was placed, instead, at the entrance to the port.
  As it is with city-states, it is with nation-states. Every nation 
that engages in trade prospers from it; every nation that fails to 
trade, fails to prosper.
  Today, international trade agreements are the means by which nations 
establish the terms of their commerce. This often requires intricate 
negotiations with trading partners, and our trading partners must be 
confident that the United States is bargaining in good faith and that 
what is decided at the bargaining table will not be revoked or 
redefined later at a congressional table.
  The Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce 
with other nations. Congress, thus, has the final say over any trade 
agreement, but trading partners have to have confidence that, once the 
agreement has been reached, it represents the last best offer of both 
sides, a meeting of the minds that won't be repeatedly altered after 
the fact.
  That is why, since the 1930s, Congress has chosen to exercise its 
responsibility by establishing the broad terms of the agreement that it 
seeks and then giving explicit instructions to our negotiators at the 
beginning of the process. If--and only if--these objectives are 
advanced in the agreement, Congress will then consider it as a whole 
package and either approve it or reject it.
  That process is called trade promotion authority. It stood the test 
of time. It has been used to the great benefit of our Nation in the 
past and has never been controversial until now.
  From the left, opposition comes from protectionist special interests. 
They fail to learn from the painful lessons of history. Protectionism 
is the fastest way to destroy an economy, as this Nation has learned 
repeatedly, including during the Jefferson administration and, again, 
in the Hoover administration.
  From the right, opposition comes from a mistrust of this President's 
judgment and competence, a mistrust I completely and unequivocally 
share. It is precisely because of this mistrust that the trade 
promotion authority sets forth some 150 objectives that must be 
advanced before Congress will even consider the resulting agreement. 
Once those objectives are attained, a majority of the Congress must 
still approve it.
  This measure does not empower the President to do his own thing; it 
binds the President to faithfully execute the will of Congress. Trade 
promotion authority simply continues a time-proven process through 
which Congress exercises its authority to regulate commerce at the 
beginning of negotiations so trading partners can have a reasonable 
expectation that their painstaking negotiations, compromises, and 
concessions won't be ripped asunder and reopened when Congress acts.

[[Page 5991]]

  Indeed, the successful Base Closure and Realignment Commission 
process worked on exactly the same principle.
  Let me repeat, this gives the President no new authority. It binds 
him to Congress' will at the outset of negotiations and promises only 
that, if the objectives set by Congress are advanced, will the Congress 
agree, not necessarily to approve the agreement, but simply to vote on 
it without opening new issues or causing unnecessary delays.
  The statue at one of our greatest ports is not of a person, but of an 
ideal, liberty. It is freedom that produces prosperity, the free 
exchange of goods between people for their mutual betterment--the 
greater the freedom, the greater the prosperity. Trade promotion 
authority is the means by which this freedom is advanced among nations.
  Mr. Speaker, freedom works. It is time that we put it back to work.

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