WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement today after the Obama Administration submitted the long-stalled trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress:
“We are a critical step closer to making these agreements a reality. Completed under the previous Administration and ready since he took office, the President should have sent these three long-stalled trade agreements to Congress years ago. They represent thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars in U.S. exports. Now that the President has finally submitted them to Congress for a vote, we must consider them as quickly as possible, so American workers and job creators can benefit from this increase in access to these critical markets."
NOTE: Last week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Hatch and 9 other Senate Republicans wrote President Obama urging him to submit the agreements to Congress after the Senate passed legislation that included Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a precondition the Administration demanded before it would send the trade agreements to Congress for consideration.
