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“THE EFFICIENT EXPORT PROMOTION TO HELP AMERICAN BUSINESSES ACT OF 2012” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E833 on May 17, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE EFFICIENT EXPORT PROMOTION TO HELP AMERICAN BUSINESSES ACT OF 2012
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HON. JIM McDERMOTT
of washington
in the house of representatives
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill with the support of Congressman Reichert to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our country's export promotion efforts. Over the next decade exports will be this country's biggest growth engine for jobs. Even though most everyone knows that, everyone also agrees the United States does not do a great job of promoting our exports. But with commonsense no-cost reforms, we can take big steps to change that--and create jobs faster and compete better with other countries.
There are about 20 agencies in the Federal Government working hard to promote our exports--and they're all overseen by an effort centered in the called the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, TPCC, created by President Clinton in 1993.
The fact that most people have never heard of it says a lot about why we're not succeeding. My bill would put more energy into their efforts.
First, this bill would make sure the TPCC and all the agencies it coordinates has a single plan every year, sets clear goals and ensures the export efforts of all of these agencies are coordinated and do not overlap.
Second, my bill would require an annual report to businesses and Congress that looks back on the government's efforts to promote exports, the private sector's progress, where the Federal Government's work succeeded and came up short, how we're competing with other countries and what our next steps are.
Finally, my bill gets businesses and the TPCC much better data so we actually know how we are doing. Right now our Services export and import numbers are up to 35 percent off because Congress does not let the statisticians in the Commerce Department see all the data they need. Businesses want accurate economic data and people who promote our exports have to have it too. This is a place where Congress is in the way and we should fix it.
More than 50 other countries promote their exports and most of those countries do a better job than we do. This bill would go a long way towards making us number one.
This bill would cost the American taxpayer nothing, but go a long way towards making our export efforts more efficient, more accountable, and would help us create more jobs here at home. Thank you.
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