WASHINGTON DC- Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, issued the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, today at a Subcommittee hearing on the pending Free Trade Agreement with Panama.
“At our hearing on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, I expressed my disappointment that we were not holding a mock mark-up of the Korea Free Trade Agreement. I am even more disappointed today, now that two more weeks have passed and the Republicans are still blocking the Korea FTA. The Korea FTA is done. It has the support of business and labor, Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and the Administration.
We should have had a mock mark-up of the Korea FTA weeks ago - every week the Republicans wait costs America jobs and jeopardizes our global competitiveness. Every week the Republicans wait is more pain on American families and hurts our geostrategic interests with Korea and across Asia.
While we’re here to talk about Panama, the Republicans are silent on helping middle class families with renewing Trade Adjustment Assistance programs, the Andean preference program, and the Generalized System of Preferences. The Republicans are also doing nothing on the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill or on currency legislation. The Republicans have decided we can’t do anything on trade until the Colombia FTA is ready. And, as if stopping the entire legislative agenda on trade were not enough, Senate Republicans have announced they intend to block the appointment of trade-related officials - even cabinet secretaries - until the Colombia FTA is passed.
While I wish we were moving the Korea FTA and a real jobs agenda forward, we’re here to talk about the Panama FTA today. The Administration’s work on the Panama FTA - like its work on the Korea FTA - is an example of how to do a trade agreement right. There were legitimate and serious concerns with Panama’s status as a tax haven and with the fact that Panama’s labor laws fell short of international standards. Rather than ignoring those concerns, the Obama Administration addressed them. For example, the United States and Panama finally signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement last November - after eight years of negotiations. And Panama has made a number of changes to its labor laws already.
Still, Panama still needs to ratify that tax agreement and to make a few important changes to its labor laws. Panama is our partner and understands what it needs to do. It is willing to make the necessary changes to its laws. And it is expected to do so soon.
Congress would undermine the Administration’s efforts to resolve the outstanding issues if it were to consider the FTA before Panama takes action. On the flip side, once Panama takes action, the Panama FTA should be submitted to Congress without delay - not held hostage to unrelated issues that are outside of Panama’s control.
The Panama and Korea FTAs provide a clear roadmap for the Colombia FTA: Rather than setting artificial deadlines and ignoring serious issues (such as labor-related violence and impunity), those issues should be resolved before the agreement moves forward.
Many Republicans criticize the Administration for taking the time to get the substance right on all three of these trade agreements. They want to just ‘get ‘em done’ quickly, rather than get ‘em done right. They wanted to pass the Korea deal before the auto provisions were fixed. They wanted to ignore the fact that Panama was a tax haven. And they want to ignore the fact that murdering union organizers and human rights activists in Colombia goes unpunished.
I don’t understand that - and I don’t think the American people do either. The American people expect us to work to lift the labor standards of our trading partners, to insist that our trading partners not operate as tax havens, and to ensure that our trade agreements do all that they can to ensure two-way trade (as the Administration did with the Korea auto deal). In my view, that is the best way to rebuild strong and lasting support for trade agreements, and I hope my Republican colleagues will support that effort. The rules require a week’s notice for a hearing, so I just want to encourage the Republicans to schedule the mock mark-up of the Korea FTA for next Wednesday."
