Bill Thomas

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman). (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), a member of the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. SHAW asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time. The gentleman began by invoking the name of John the Baptist. I would tell the gentleman if he would review the activity that has taken place on this floor in terms of moving legislation that would directly address the concerns that he has, this House has acted. I would suggest that he should implore the name of Tommy the Daschle if he is really looking for where the problem is in terms of not moving legislation. This House has moved, repeatedly. We have sent product after product after product over to the United States Senate. And I know I am not supposed to mention the other body by name, and I know I am not supposed to refer to an individual by name and, therefore, I will say ``the other body ain't there.'' They simply have not done their job. I sympathize with the gentleman from Hawaii. I would love to have an economic recovery bill in front of the President. We did our job. I am anxious to go to conference with the product that the Senate has produced. I am anxious to rescue the Senate if they are not able to produce a product. We are ready and able to address all of the concerns that the gentleman outlined, and I would underscore the fact that we already have. But what we have in front of us, Mr. Speaker, is a very modest bill, a modest bill that a number of people have worked on for a number of years. And all we have done is told the people of sub-Saharan Africa, we will give you, rather than 1 percent, 3 percent market penetration. What we have said to the individuals in the Caribbean is that if you utilize our fiber and yarn to a very great extent, we will let you bring a few more products into our marketplace. And what we have said to the Andean countries is, if we could affect the demand side in this country to the degree that you have affected the supply side, it would be a significant advance in the war on drugs; but that, as gratitude, we will tell you, go pound dirt, because we are not going to offer you an opportunity to sell your goods in our country. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), someone who has not looked at this from afar, but someone who has viewed this closely and firsthand. (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Kolbe), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the Committee on Appropriations, and someone who has devoted extraordinary time in the area of trade internationally, and who has been an enormous help on this bill as well.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), a member of the committee.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Speaker, I do so to announce that the next speaker is the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins). He is a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and obviously, given the geographic location of his State, he is significantly involved with and concerned with textiles, from raw fiber to the production of the final product. He, along with most of the other people in the textile belt, has suffered significantly. The reason I took this extra time is that I wanted to make sure in the introduction that everyone understands the role that he has been playing, that is, he has looked at the way the world is and wants to work to make sure that we have a viable and useful relationship and that we do not just try to stop the world. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins).

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the bipartisan nature of this bill, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) from our side of the aisle.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn), a member of the committee.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on International Relations and someone who has worked with members on our committee to make sure that the African portion of this bill is as good as we could get it.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 289, I call up the bill (H.R. 3009) to extend the Andean Trade Preference Act, to grant additional trade benefits under that Act, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Crane), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade, the sponsor of the bill and someone who has worked long and hard in this area and frankly very fruitfully in the last few years.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. When we were younger and engaged in various activities, I was involved in sports, and I know on those long workouts during the summer we would be doing jumping jacks. One of the things we repeated constantly was, ``Every day in every way we're getting better and better,'' probably in the hopes that mind would overcome matter because we were not very good in terms of the team. But the belief that you can do better, I think, is important. We never said, ``Every day we're perfect.'' We were getting better. There have been a number of discussions on this floor about the procedure, about the substance and about the way in which the House has been operating. I am here to tell you that today in every way, we are getting better and better. Are we perfect? No. What you have in front of you is a piece of legislation sponsored by the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, cosponsored by the ranking member, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Trade. In addition to that, I want to thank our colleagues on the committee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn). I especially want to underscore the contribution that the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) made not just on this bill, but on the Caribbean Basin bill in terms of labor rights, which we adopted to place into the Andean portion of this bill. I want to thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) in terms of their assistance and support on the African portion of this bill. The fundamental premise of this bill is that we ought to trade commercial products, not drugs. To the degree that is going to be possible, we can affect the supply side of the supply-demand problem with drugs. We included the Caribbean Basin Initiative and Africa in this bill because I think it is extremely important that when we offer these regions marginal benefits under our laws that they do not think that it is taken from one area to be given to another, that in fact a rising tide can float all boats. And so today we are pleased to bring to the floor a bipartisan bill that passed the committee on a voice vote; that although there are some concerns by some areas because whenever you talk about trade, you are talking about change and change is not only painful, but difficult. We will commit to those who believe they are disadvantaged that when the facts are presented and the case is made, we will do everything in our power to adjust the arrangement so that it contains and will be what we believe this bill is, a win-win relationship. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, the Chair appreciates the climate that the gentleman from New York clearly provides to allow us to continue to work together. And now to close on the Democratic substitute and all debate on what was called in today's Washington Post a hodgepodge of tax rebates for low-income families, expanded government health insurance and spending from schools to construction, that is income redistribution posing as stimulus, I yield the remainder of my time to the majority leader, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey).

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining?

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), the chairman of the policy committee.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure and privilege to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis), a member of the committee.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Watkins), a valued member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. WATKINS of Oklahoma asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to just comment that apparently the buzz words today on the Democratic side are shameful and Social Security Trust Fund. We will hear those repeated over and over again, and here we go again.

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Security of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. THOMAS

Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3090, the bill just passed.