[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8260-8261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Pompeo) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POMPEO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss an issue that is 
incredibly important not only to America, but to the folks who I 
represent in south central Kansas. We need to make sure that in south 
central Kansas we have the opportunity to access markets all over the 
world and to sell the great products that we make.
  Mr. Speaker, it sometimes sounds like just statistics, but in 2014, 
$12 billion in goods from over 3,000 companies were exported outside of 
Kansas. In the Fourth District alone, over $3.8 billion was exported, 
making Wichita and south central Kansas one of the three top exporting 
metros in the entire United States of America.
  When you visit Wichita, you can see that. If you travel around south 
central Kansas, you will find great aerospace companies, companies like 
Learjet, Cessna, Beechcraft, and Airbus, manufacturing goods that are 
sold all across the world. They need access to these markets overseas. 
We make the 737 fuselage right in Wichita, Kansas.
  And we all know the hundreds of small businesses that supply them, 
machine shops like DJ Engineering and McGinty Machine, that hire 
hundreds of people in good-paying jobs that are dependent on the 
capacity for south central Kansas to ship their products around the 
world, companies like Rubbermaid and Case New Holland that makes farm 
equipment and Coleman that makes camping goods.
  This doesn't begin to mention all the petroleum products that move 
out of Kansas. And, of course, we sell lots of agricultural products as 
well. Kansas is the top exporter of wheat, with over $1.5 billion per 
year. It ranks second in the export of meat products and third in 
cattle.
  International trade is incredibly important to the people of south 
central Kansas. These aren't just numbers. These are about real, hard-
working Kansans and good-paying jobs.

[[Page 8261]]

  We need to make sure, here in Congress, that we provide outlines for 
our President to go negotiate deals with both Europe and Asia such that 
companies like Excel that makes lawn mowing equipment in Hesston, 
Kansas, can continue to grow. It is their objective to double over the 
next 5 years. They cannot do so without the capacity to sell their 
products into Europe and to Asia.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, there is much controversy about some pieces of 
trade promotion authority in some of the trade agreements. I have read 
the document as it currently stands. I can assure everyone who is 
listening today that this Congress will retain its full authority to 
approve every agreement that is entered into to make sure that it is, 
in fact, in the best interests of reducing taxes, reducing tariffs, and 
reducing regulatory barriers so that Americans and Kansans can sell 
their products all across the globe.
  Sometimes the word ``trade'' gets bandied about, but what it really 
means is the capacity for innovation, creativity, the rule of law, and 
competitiveness to triumph around the world. Those are the hallmarks of 
the people of south central Kansas. If we get these trade agreements 
right, we can enhance the lives of so many folks all across the Fourth 
District of Kansas.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
join me in supporting passage of trade promotion authority when it 
comes before the House for a full vote. It is about trade, which is 
about jobs, which is so important for the American people.

                          ____________________