Blunt, Portman Spearhead Effort to Advance Export Agreements, Trade Adjustment Assistance

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), former U.S. Trade Representative, and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), joined 10 of their Republican Senate colleagues this week to advance the pending export agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, the 12 Senators urged the Administration to submit the pending export agreements immediately with the understanding that the agreement meets the White House’s insistence that there is a way forward on a separate Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill.

The Senators have committed to supporting cloture on the motion to proceed to the TAA bill and the bill itself, reflecting bipartisan reforms negotiated by the White House as well as U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). This provides more than enough votes to ensure the reformed TAA bill can pass the Senate.

“Together with my colleagues in the House and the Senate, I’ve been working to find a path forward for these job-producing agreements with our allies in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea for the last five years. Today we have that path forward,” said Blunt. “I’m pleased that so many of my Senate colleagues have recognized the importance of this moment and joined us in this effort to demonstrate our commitment to working together to get all three deals passed as soon as possible.”

“Our country is in a fiscal crisis and export promotion is one of the few budget-neutral tools available to help spur job growth,” said Portman. “That’s why advancing job creating agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama that expand exports is so urgent and timely. If we aren’t moving forward in the global economy, we’re falling behind. It’s time for the President to submit these agreements. We can pass TAA and these export agreements in separate votes, and we can get them passed now.”   

Full text of the letter follows.

July 19, 2011

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As Republican Senators, we urge you to submit the Korea, Colombia and Panama trade agreements as soon as possible, with the understanding that we will support a separate Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill that reflects the bipartisan reforms negotiated by Chairmen Baucus and Camp and the White House.

In order to move this process forward, we commit to supporting cloture on the motion to proceed to such a TAA bill and cloture on the bill itself. We believe that the trade agreements and TAA should receive separate up or down votes on their merits.

We therefore urge you to separate the pending trade agreements and TAA, and immediately submit the three trade agreements to Congress.

Sincerely,

Senator Portman

Senator Blunt

Senator Boozman

Senator Brown (Mass.)

Senator Coats

Senator Cochran

Senator Collins

Senator Hoeven

Senator Isakson

Senator Johanns

Senator Murkowski

Senator Wicker

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