Dave Camp

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The U.S.-Korea agreement is the most commercially significant trade agreement considered by the Congress in 17 years, and it couldn't come at a better time. With the unemployment rate stuck stubbornly above 9 percent, we must seek out and take advantage of all opportunities to create American jobs. This agreement, known as KORUS, will do just that by supporting hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs in all sectors. Last year, I worked closely with the administration, the major auto makers, auto workers and Mr. Levin to address persistent barriers to U.S. automobile trade with South Korea. The supplemental agreement which is incorporated in the legislation before us today addresses key tariff and nontariff barriers, and includes numerous provisions to ensure that South Korea can no longer use its regulatory system to block U.S. exports. The International Trade Commission estimates that removal of nontariff barriers will add an additional $48 million to $66 million in new exports. This, in addition to the $194 million in expected new exports from lower Korean tariffs on U.S. autos. Inaction on KORUS has allowed the EU and other competitors to step in and steal U.S. market share and has diminished U.S. leadership in Asia. KORUS is key to our engagement in Asia and a critical bulwark to Chinese influence in the region. I call on the President to promptly enter this agreement into force so that our workers, companies, farmers, and ranchers can get off the sidelines and recapture market share. KORUS and the other two agreements we will pass this week will create sustainable and well- paying jobs. Passage of KORUS will also deepen ties with a strong and important ally. The United States and South Korea have stood shoulder-to-shoulder for more than 60 years. KORUS is the next step forward in our bilateral relationship, and today's action could not come soon enough. I look forward to welcoming President Lee during his state visit tomorrow, and to congratulating him personally on passage of this important agreement. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. CAMP. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the Trade Subcommittee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 425, I call up the bill (H.R. 3080) to implement the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CAMP. How much time do I have?

Mr. CAMP. I have no further requests for time, so I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rivera).

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Louisiana, Dr. Boustany.

Mr. CAMP. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my distinguished colleague on the Ways and Means Committee, the chairman of the Trade Subcommittee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit the following: Congress of the United States, Joint Committee on Taxation, Washington, DC, October 6, 2011. Hon. Dave Camp, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC. Hon. Sander M. Levin, Ranking Member, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Camp and Ranking Member Levin: I am writing pursuant to section 4022 of the Internal Revenue Service Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (Pub. L. No. 105-206) (the ``IRS Reform Act''), which requires the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (in consultation with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury) to provide a complexity analysis of tax legislation reported by the Senate Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or a Conference Report containing tax provisions. The complexity analysis is required to report on the complexity and administrative issues raised by provisions that directly or indirectly amend the Internal Revenue Code and that have widespread applicability to individuals or small businesses. The IRS Reform Act mandates that certain information be included in the complexity analysis, if determinable. The IRS Reform Act requires the complexity analysis to be included in the appropriate committee report, or provided to the Members of the committee reporting the legislation as soon as practicable after the report is filed. This letter fulfills the requirement for a complexity analysis of H.R. 3078, the ``United States-Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act,'' H.R. 3079, the ``United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act,'' and H.R. 3080, the ``United States- Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act,'' as reported by the Committee on Ways and Means on October 6, 2011. We have determined that there are no items in these three bills that have widespread applicability to individuals or small businesses, as defined in Section 4022 of the IRS Reform Act. I want to bring to your attention another provision of the IRS Reform Act. It appears that a point of order may be raised against a bill where the committee report for that bill does not contain a complexity analysis, unless the Ways and Means Committee has the complexity analysis printed in the Congressional Record prior to the consideration of that bill. If you have any questions, please contact Brion Graber or me. Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold, Chief of Staff.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank both of my colleagues for their commitment to work with the other body to ensure that this legislation becomes law. As we all know, we can use all the help we can get when we get to the other side of the Capitol. But I want to just reemphasize that this is part of a 40-year history of more competition for U.S. manufacturers and U.S. companies. This is bipartisan legislation which has been around for a long time. It is important to continue to grow markets and create exports; and this legislation helps American employers, American manufacturers--and their employees, more importantly--by creating and supporting jobs here in America. So it's just an important, valuable part of our export policy, and I urge all of my colleagues to join in supporting this bipartisan legislation. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP. I haven't had a chance to review your suggestion but would be happy to take a look at it.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I think today we'll find that we're the Congress of ``yes'' on this bipartisan legislation, and I want to thank the ranking member of the Trade Subcommittee for his original cosponsorship. With that, I yield 4 minutes to the chairman of the Trade Subcommittee, the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).

Mr. CAMP. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2832) to extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes.

Mr. CAMP. Well, the short answer is no. The gentleman is correct in his analysis or reading of the bill. This is a straightforward extension of the existing program, so it has not added any additional eligibility criteria in this legislation. This is just simply a straightforward extension.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2832.

Mr. CAMP. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation, which renews the nearly 40- year-old Generalized System of Preferences, is a vital part of a robust trade agenda, an agenda that makes American companies more competitive and increases American exports. GSP is an important tool for boosting economic growth and job creation. Just last week, we learned that on the whole there were zero jobs created in August and that the unemployment rate remains above 9 percent. Over the next several weeks, congressional Republicans will bring several bills to the floor that will address the shortage of American jobs and help promote job creation. This legislation is an important component of that effort because GSP is critical to the competitiveness of many American manufacturers. Having more competitive American companies means creating and supporting more American jobs. The lapse of this program since the beginning of the year has unnecessarily imposed higher costs on American manufacturers and consumers at a time when we can least afford it. The GSP program is the largest U.S. trade preference program and provides duty-free treatment to nonsensitive imports from over 130 developing countries. Many U.S. companies source raw materials and other inputs from GSP countries, and the duty-free treatment of these imports reduces the production costs of these U.S. manufacturers, making them more competitive. Nearly three-quarters of all GSP-eligible imports are raw materials, components, parts, or machinery and equipment used by American workers to manufacture goods in the United States for both consumption here and for export. According to an analysis by the Coalition for GSP, approximately 82,000 jobs are either directly or indirectly associated with the importation and use of GSP-eligible imports. The clear connection with jobs reinforces how important it is the program is renewed. Many of the jobs supported by GSP imports are in Michigan, where the unemployment rate remains almost 2 percentage points above the national average. Unfortunately, the lapse in the GSP program has forced employers in Michigan to pay over $9 million in unnecessary duties. Instead of paying unnecessary duties, these employers could have been paying $9 million more in needed salaries. The legislation renews the program until July 30, 2013, and permits importers to apply for duty refunds for eligible products imported since the program's expiration on December 31 of 2010. This retroactive renewal will provide a timely infusion of capital to U.S. manufacturers that have faced higher duties and, therefore, higher production costs since the program expired. It will allow them to compete with manufacturers abroad who already have duty-free access to such inputs. I also note that this legislation will not add to the deficit as the costs are fully offset. I would like to thank my colleague, Ranking Member Levin, for working with me to find a path forward for this legislation. Given how important this legislation is, I hope that our colleagues in the other body will act quickly. Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize how important this job-creating legislation is for American manufacturers and their employees by creating and supporting American jobs. It's a valuable part of an aggressive, pro-growth trade agenda. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP. I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt).

Mr. CAMP. I am prepared to close at this point if the gentleman has no further speakers.

Mr. CAMP

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, or Debt Commission, we received testimony from experts in economic policy research; and they said that when debt loads of a country reach above or at 90 percent of their economy or GDP, that results in the reduction in economic growth in that country by about 1 percentage point. And using the administration's economic model, that 1 percentage point increase in our GDP or decrease in our GDP costs about a million jobs. That's why this debate is so important. It is so important to get us on a path to fiscal responsibility, to begin to bring down our national debt. The plan before us today does that. It does that with spending reductions. It does it with the sort of structural reforms in terms of spending caps that are there. But it also does it with an automatic reduction in spending if, for some reason, this select committee set up in this bill fails to come to some sort of agreement on how to reduce spending. That automatic reduction, I think, is an important backstop so the select committee will take its work seriously and do everything to come to a bipartisan solution. Also, there is a path forward on a balanced budget amendment in this legislation that is absolutely critical I think for not just today, because we know it is impossible to bind future Congresses, but to put in place a structure and a mechanism well into the future so that we don't find ourselves continuing to deal with the fundamentals of this problem. We begin to deal with the problem; we make progress on the problem; and that progress will mean job creation, and that's something we're all looking forward to. I thank the Speaker and urge a ``yes'' vote on the legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady).

Mr. CAMP. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed).