[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6235]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, Thursday a week ago I had the privilege, 
as a member of the Finance Committee, to serve on the markup of the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act, trade promotion authority, and 
trade adjustment and assistance.
  This past Saturday, I was given the opportunity to give the 
Republican response on the radio, and I talked about trade promotion 
authority. I have been privileged to be ranking member and chairman at 
one time of the African Affairs Subcommittee. I have traveled back and 
forth to the continent of Africa, seen the opportunities for trade, 
business, and exchange with the African people.
  I came to the Congress in 1999. In that year, I voted for trade 
promotion authority for President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. Later, I 
voted for trade promotion authority for President Bush, a Republican. 
And I proudly will vote for trade promotion authority for President 
Obama, a Democrat, because trade is not a partisan issue. It should not 
be nor should it ever be a partisan issue. It should be an issue of the 
American people's employment opportunities and jobs in the future. 
Trade is the cement that holds together the diplomacy and the 
agreements between countries to work together, play together, and not 
fight together and not have armed conflict. Trade is important to the 
security of the United States of America and, in fact, the rest of the 
world.
  But I don't want to talk about trade promotion authority today. I 
want to talk about the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
  Africa is the continent of the 21st century for the United States of 
America, with 1.5 billion mouths to feed, a number of votes at the 
United Nations, in terms of the African countries, but most 
importantly, it has the rarest earth minerals and the natural resources 
so important to us and the rest of the world. Africa is a gold mine 
waiting to be mined. But it is not one that we abuse, like the Chinese 
are abusing it. It is one where we share in prosperity.
  When China goes into Africa, they bring their own workers, pay their 
own workers with Chinese currency, extract the rarest minerals--oil and 
petroleum and natural resources--and then leave.
  When America goes, we invest in the human capital with PEPFAR to 
reduce the rate of AIDS, and we invest in the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation to bring jobs, opportunities, and a lack of corruption to 
the African people.
  The African Growth and Opportunity Act is a godsend for the continent 
of Africa, but it is a godsend to the country of the United States of 
America. In the future, Africa will become our greatest trading partner 
if we handle it right.
  The African Growth and Opportunity Act that will be before us, along 
with TPA, is a 10-year extension of our goal. That is important, 
because it gives predictability to the African countries and the United 
States. But, more importantly, it gives us the opportunity to file 
cases with the Trade Representative against those countries that are 
not playing by the rules.
  South Africa is a perfect example. They have blocked access to their 
market to poultry from the United States of America, with arbitrary and 
capricious blockades to keep our poultry from going in.
  Senator Coons from Delaware and I from Georgia, two big poultry 
States, have confronted the South Africans. We know that under the new 
AGOA, when it is passed and ratified by this Congress and by the 
African countries as well, it will give us the opportunity to file a 
petition to ask the Trade Representative to file a case to open up the 
South African practices. And if they are found to be not right--or 
wrong or corrupt--then we can block South Africa's participation in 
parts of the AGOA or all of the AGOA. In other words, the AGOA is going 
to have consequences, much as the Millennium Challenge account does.
  Today, when America makes an investment in a foreign country in 
Africa for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, there are consequences 
if they don't end corruption, if they don't have private sector 
participation, if they don't have the rule of law governing their 
project. We pull the Millennium Challenge Corporation out, and they 
don't get another grant.
  Look at the nation of Ghana, which is now working on its third grant, 
or the nation of Benin, which is working on its second. Both are 
improving their infrastructure and their ability to trade and produce 
with America because of a joint venture between our country and those 
countries.
  I urge all my colleagues in the House and the Senate to adopt the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act for three reasons.
  No. 1, it is a 10-year predictable extension of a relationship we 
need to grow and prosper.
  No. 2, it gives us the tools not to be abused, and it makes sure that 
if one of the African countries is abusing American access to their 
market, we can stop it and file a case with the Trade Representative.
  But No. 3, it offers hope and prosperity for America in the 21st 
century--with 1.5 billion mouths to feed, rare earth minerals, natural 
resources, the power of the people and the power of the purse of the 
people. Africa is the continent of the 21st century for our country. 
Having a trade agreement with Africa is essential to seeing to it that 
we have a prosperous and free future.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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