Thread: Statement of Senator Burr Defending His Vote for CAFTA

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The Congressional Record


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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-CENTRAL AMERICA-UNITED STATES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (Senate - June 30, 2005)

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Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I probably won't be as eloquent as the senior Senator from West Virginia, but rest assured that I am just as passionate about the issue before this body.
I rise today, after months of countless discussions with interested parties, farmers, manufacturers, textile workers, and small businesses, to voice my support for the Central American Free Trade Agreement. It is not a decision that I have reached lightly.

While some in my State continue to raise concerns with this agreement and trade in general, I believe this agreement is in the long-term best interests of North Carolina and our Nation. When I wake up in the morning, I look forward, I don't look back; I look to the future. Simply put, Mr. President, voting no on this agreement would be the easy thing to do. However, I believe voting yes is, in fact, the right choice for the State of North Carolina and its economic future.

It is only through agreements with our friends, neighbors, and allies that we will be able to compete with Asia. Many will argue that this agreement is a jobs loser, and I certainly understand that feeling and respect those opinions. After all, my home State of North Carolina is undergoing a significant economic transition which is changing the nature of our job market. However, I believe CAFTA will provide opportunities for economic growth in my State down the road.

CAFTA will provide garment makers in the region with a critical advantage in competing with Asia--particularly Chinese--garment manufacturers. This is crucial for one very important reason: those regional garment makers buy their yarn, their fabric, from American companies. Many of those companies are based in North Carolina. Those American companies buy their cotton from American farmers. This is not the case in Asia.

I am persuaded by the impressive level of trade between North Carolina and Central America today. North Carolina exported almost $2 billion worth of merchandise to Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in 2004 alone. Only Florida and Texas exported more. My State's exports to the region last year accounted for almost 10 percent of our total exports. These exports translate into real jobs in North Carolina.

I am also persuaded by the side agreements that I know the President is well aware of--side agreements intended to address shortcomings in the underlying agreement. Our new Trade Representative, my friend, Rob Portman, has committed he will utilize the CAFTA amendment mechanism to pursue a rule-of-origin change for pockets and linings,

helping ensure that $100 million in U.S. pocketing and lining exports to the region are not lost. The administration has also reaffirmed its commitment to negotiate an aggressive customs enforcement agreement with Mexico before the cumulation provisions of CAFTA can be used. Finally, Nicaragua has committed to allocate its trade preference levels, or TPLs, to its current nonqualifying U.S. trade, ensuring that existing U.S. business is not impacted by this provision.

I am not the only one persuaded by these side agreements. On June 27, 10 organizations, representing textile and apparel businesses, wrote Members of the House and Senate in support of CAFTA. Those organizations wrote:


This agreement is vitally important for the United States textile and apparel industry and the more than 600,000 workers who are still employed in the United States in this industry.


I ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, that this letter be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:


June 27, 2005.

DEAR SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE: We are writing to express our strong support for and urge passage of the implementing legislation (HR 3045/S 1307) for the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

This agreement is vitally important for the U.S. textile and apparel industry and the more than 600,000 workers who are still employed in the United States in this industry.

Last year, we exported more than $4 billion of textile and apparel products to Central America and the Dominican Republic. More than 25 percent of all U.S. fabric exports and 40 percent of all U.S. yarn exports go to this region. As a result, garments imported from the region contain on average more than 70 percent U.S. content. In contrast, garments imported from Asia contain less than 1 percent U.S. content.

Recent changes in the international trade regime--through the elimination of quotas have eroded the competitiveness of the partnership we now have with Central American region. Moreover, the existing program--because of burdensome documentation requirements and because it will expire soon--no longer provides as strong an incentive to make clothing in the region using U.S. inputs.

CAFTA-DR will solidify and stabilize this partnership by making the current program broader, easier to use, more flexible, permanent, and reciprocal. It will create new sales opportunities for U.S. textile and apparel products by providing permanent incentives for the use of U.S. yarns and fabrics in textile articles made in the region. And because it will promote duty free access for U.S. textile and apparel exports to local markets in the region--which currently does not exist--it will give us new advantages over our competitors.

For all these reasons, textile and apparel companies from across the supply chain have come together to express support for CAFTA-DR and to urge its swift approval.

On behalf of the U.S. companies we represent and the workers they employ, we urge you to support the agreement and vote YES on the CAFTA-DR.

Sincerely,

American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA),

American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA),

American Fiber Manufacturers Association (AFMA),

American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA),

Association of the Non Woven Fabrics Industry (INDA),

National Cotton Council (NCC),

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO),

Sewn Products Equipment & Suppliers of the Americas (SPESA),

Textile Distributors Association (TDA),

United States Hosiery Manufacturers Coalition (USHMC).


Mr. BURR. Mr. President, North Carolina textile and apparel firms are

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by no means unanimous in their support of CAFTA. I clearly understand that. But when companies as diverse as Sara Lee, Russell, Glen Raven, National Textiles, and Parkdale, companies that have not agreed before, agree on this, we should take notice, and I have.
Without CAFTA, more and more garment manufacturing will simply find its way to China to be manufactured. As Central American manufacturers are forced out by Chinese manufacturers, more American jobs will be put at risk for the simple fact that Chinese manufacturers do not use American yarn, they do not use American fabric, and they do not use American cotton.

I am persuaded by agriculture's support for this agreement, and in a letter to me recently, North Carolina's Farm Bureau president Larry Wooten said:


On balance, the CAFTA-DR is a positive trade deal for North Carolina agriculture. It will boost our State's number one industry by helping North Carolina's farm families develop new markets for their products. North Carolina Farm Bureau strongly supports CAFTA-DR.


Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

NORTH CAROLINA FARM BUREAU

FEDERATION,

Raleigh, NC, June 30, 2005.
Hon. RICHARD BURR,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.

DEAR SENATOR BURR: As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote today on the Central America--Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), I am writing you to express North Carolina Farm Bureau's support for this important agreement. Thank you for your vote last night to invoke cloture on S. 1307, and we hope you will vote for this measure again on final passage today.

Currently, U.S. agriculture faces a $700 million trade deficit with the six countries included in the CAFTA-DR. This is largely the result of the General System of Preferences (GSP) trade provisions and the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which together allow 99 percent of Central American and Dominican Republic agricultural products to enter U.S. markets duty free. Conversely, U.S. exports to the region are subject to applied tariffs that range from 15 to 43 percent. Indeed, North Carolina's farm families have already paid for this agreement.

CAFTA-DR will eliminate these trade barriers, and provide North Carolina farmers and agribusinesses with the same duty-free access that CAFTA-DR countries already enjoy in our markets. In fact, many U.S. competitors in the region, like Chile, already receive preferential access from the CAFTA-DR countries.

A News & Observer article published earlier this year reported that, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, North Carolina exports to the CAFTA-DR countries grew by $678 million from 2001 to 2004, the largest increase in the nation. The article went on to say that North Carolina is the CAFTA-DR region's third largest trading partner behind Texas and Florida. Clearly, North Carolina agriculture has much to gain from CAFTA-DR's enactment.

According to a recent study conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), II CAFTA-DR is a good deal for North Carolina agriculture. In 2003, North Carolina's farm cash receipts equaled $6.9 billion. Of that figure, $1.3 billion, or about 19 percent, came from agricultural exports. If CAFTA-DR is enacted, AFBF estimates that North Carolina will increase agriculture trade to this region by nearly $70 million per year by 2024.

As you know, North Carolina is a major producer of pork, poultry, and cotton, as well as a significant producer of soybeans. Under CAFTA-DR, North Carolina could expect to increase meat exports to CAFTA-DR nations by $24 million per year once the agreement is fully implemented. Poultry, our third largest agricultural export, would experience export increases of $42 million per year. Exports of cotton would increase approximately $1 million per year, while soybeans and soybean product exports would grow by $770,000 per year.

It is important to remember that the global community is closely monitoring congressional deliberations regarding CAFTA-DR. Rejecting this agreement will damage U.S. credibility in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and deter other nations from negotiating future trade agreements with us. Further, failing to approve CAFTA-DR and any subsequent trade agreements will exert more pressure on Congress to increase Farm Bill spending.

On balance, the CAFTA-DR is a positive trade deal for North Carolina agriculture. It will boost our state's number one industry by helping North Carolina's farm families develop new markets for their products. North Carolina Farm Bureau strongly supports CAFTA-DR, and we urge you to support on the Senate Floor today.

As a friend of North Carolina Farm Bureau, you have always been accessible and I appreciate your support for North Carolina's farm families. As you consider how you will vote on this critical matter, please know that I stand ready to assist you in any way. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Larry B. Wooten,
President.


Mr. BURR. Mr. President, current agricultural trade between the United States and the region can be a one-way street. That street is often closed to our farmers by regional barriers. CAFTA will remove those barriers, increasing access for U.S. farmers. With exports accounting for 20 percent of North Carolina's farm cash receipts, almost $1.5 billion, my State's farmers stand to make tremendous gains in Central American markets.

The key to making this trade agreement an economic success for North Carolina, though, is enforcement. I am a proponent of free trade, but I am an even bigger proponent of fair trade. The rules must be enforced. I intend to make sure that neither this Nation nor our partner countries turn a blind eye to the provisions set out and the assurances made in CAFTA.

Several of my colleagues have come down to the Senate floor to express their concerns with China. Let me be specific. I have concerns about China, too. I voted against normal trade relations status for China eight times as a Member of the other body. Hindering our Nation's trade with other nations to get back at China is not the answer. Enforcing our laws and enforcing the provisions of the trade agreement with China is the answer to China.

If I held up a chart today and suggested that chart listed every time China had voluntarily broken our trade agreements, it would be blank. If we want trade to work, we as a country have to enforce the agreements we have with our partners.

This is not the China free-trade agreement. It is the Central American Free Trade Agreement. We need to stop holding our friends in Central America and elsewhere accountable for China's unlawful practices. We should not let China get away with unfair trade practices, and we must strengthen our trade enforcement efforts. If China is going to break the rules, let's call them on it. Let's make them pay for it. But we should not make other countries the scapegoat for China.

In the 2 years since CAFTA was signed, I have worked to better understand the agreement and the impacts it will have on my State. Today I am convinced there is no choice--no choice--but to look to the future and approve this agreement. The new and emerging sectors of North Carolina's economy, from computer manufacturing to biotechnology and established sectors such as financial services and agriculture, depend on agreements such as this.

What makes CAFTA fairly unique is the recognition by many in the textile and apparel industry that CAFTA represents one of their last, best chances to compete with Asia. We cannot afford to wall ourselves off from the rest of the world if we hope to compete in a global marketplace and to create jobs in the United States.

I urge my colleagues to look at the long-term benefits of prosperous, successful, established democracies to our south and the economic opportunities it provides for our own citizens here. If we fail to look to our friends in the south, we will only be strengthening our competitors to the west.

I urge my colleagues at the end of this debate to vote in favor of the CAFTA agreement, and I urge my colleagues to stay vigilant, whether it is CAFTA or China, as it relates to enforcement mechanisms with our trade partners.

I yield the floor.

we shall work to remove Burr and Dole come election.

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

we shall work to remove Burr and Dole come election.

You got that right. They ought to be arrested for Treason.

Not one word by this traitor that the sovereignty of the United States will given over to the United Nations.

These traitors must think we all are stupid. Ross Perot was right about NAFTA and CAFTA will be the death blow to the American Worker.

I can hear that giant sucking sound of American Farmers going bankrupt.

These third world countries have GNP of just over a billion dollars and they are going to buy American? Give me a break.

The only ones that backing this treaty are multinational corporations that want to out source American Jobs.

Bush is trying to sneak this through the congress without a debate. How come if it is so beneficial to AMERICANS??

What a joke Burr is in trying to defend his position. I just dont see how they can keep defending helping those countrys that are poor to prop them up? Important stuff like CAFTA OR NAFTA should be voted on in the US not allowing those in Washington to make the final blow to sell out America, though i dont know if we could get it defeated that way either.

Pro

ScottyDog, Great Post and Welcome to ALIPAC!

Prometheus,
If the citizens of the US voted on this, it would be defeated. It is easier to buy a few senators than it is millions of citizens.

I also asked Burr, in my scathing letter, if he or any of his staff had read the 1000 page bunch of laws to which we would be subjected if CAFTA goes through. What little I heard about that was just downright scary. CAFTA will end up costing this country millions just in lawsuits defending our rights not to be taken to The Hague for breaking the laws in that 1000 page document.