Pat Tiberi

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), one of our leaders here in the Congress on free trade.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Paulsen), a leader on trade, a member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), a leader on trade, a member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Dold), a new member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to remind my friend that globalization occurred long before any trade agreement. My dad lost his job, his steelworker job, years before NAFTA. In fact, we have a trade surplus, Mr. Speaker. We have a trade surplus with the 20 countries that we have a trade agreement with, a deficit with the countries that we don't. It is now my privilege to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan), a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I now have the privilege to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), a member of the Ways and Means Committee and an important voice on trade.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), a leader on trade, a leader on the Trade Subcommittee, a past chairman of the Trade Subcommittee, and a leader on the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have great respect for my colleague from Ohio, but let me just give you a few facts. Of the 20 countries with which we have trade agreements, we have a trade surplus. With the countries with which we don't, we have a trade deficit. It speaks for itself. In Ohio, 89 percent of our exporters are small- and medium-sized companies with fewer than 500 people. With respect to TAA, I must say that most of these trading dollars are spent at community colleges, at technical colleges, and they use that money to train workers and to upgrade skills for a 21st century economy. I wish my dad, who had lost his manufacturing job way before NAFTA and who had lost his steelworker job way before any bilateral trade agreement for globalization, had had TAA to help him get a new job. As the President said, in reality, a vote against this TAA bill will be a vote to actually cut funding for community college. As the President said yesterday, a ``no'' vote could potentially kill TAA forever. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Reichert), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee and Trade Subcommittee and a leader on trade issues.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), a leader on trade, a leader on the Ways and Means Committee, and a leader for Louisiana.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), a leader on the Committee on Ways and Means, a leader on trade.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), a new member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. TIBERI. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, before I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky, I just want to point out the record here. No public service worker has ever been certified for TAA under the 2009 stimulus TAA that was passed. I will also reiterate a statement from the White House with respect to TAA, Mr. Speaker: If you're a Member of Congress and you vote against TAA this week, you are signing the death certificate for this assistance. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight. All three bills that we are voting on today can be read. This is TPA. This is the bill that will hold the President accountable--this President, the next President. This is the bill that tells the administration what we expect. This is the bill that Congress inserts itself into to the President's negotiating. Listen, ladies and gentlemen, the world is trading. The world is globalized. The world was globalized long before America decided to pass NAFTA--long before. And, in fact, NAFTA, in 1993, the year before NAFTA took effect, the U.S. had a steel trade deficit of 3 million net tons with Canada and Mexico. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, the U.S. had a steel trade surplus of 1.2 million net tons with Canada and Mexico. NAFTA has benefited the entire North American steel industry. Total U.S.-Canada steel trade has increased 99 percent from 1993 to 2014. Total U.S.-Mexico steel trade has increased 352 percent between 1993 and 2014. That is why the steel industry in America supports this bill along with the enforcement that we are going to debate in a little bit. In Ohio, Honda of America is a net exporter--is a net exporter. This is about jobs. This is about allowing those people, those workers, some of my constituents at East Liberty or in Marysville, to build more cars in Ohio, to send them overseas. The only way we do that is to break down barriers--more jobs. Listen, I get job loss. My dad lost his job of 25 years. Ladies and gentlemen, we need to pass TPA to increase the number of jobs. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 305, I call up the bill (H.R. 644) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend and expand the charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory, with the Senate amendments thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. TIBERI. 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. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, currently under consideration.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I include an exchange of letters between the committees of jurisdiction in the Record at this point. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security, Washington, DC, May 14, 2015. Hon. Paul Ryan, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Ryan: I am writing to you concerning the jurisdictional interest of the Committee on Homeland Security in H.R. 1907, the ``Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015.'' The bill includes provisions that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security. I recognize and appreciate the desire to bring this legislation before the House of Representatives in an expeditious manner, and accordingly, the Committee on Homeland Security will forego consideration of this bill. The Committee takes this action with the mutual understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 1907 at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and that our Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as this bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues in our jurisdiction. This waiver is also given with the understanding that the Committee on Homeland Security expressly reserves its authority to seek conferees on any provision within its jurisdiction during any House-Senate conference that may be convened on this or any similar legislation, and requests your support for such a request. I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 1907, and ask that a copy of this letter and your response be included in the Committee report on the bill as well as in the Congressional Record during consideration of this bill on the House floor. Sincerely, Michael T. McCaul, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert).

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and thank him for his leadership, credible leadership, on this debate, about American leadership, quite frankly. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to debate three bills today: trade assistance for displaced workers, trade promotional and accountability authority that inserts Congress into the President's ability under the Constitution to negotiate a trade agreement with anybody he or she wants, and then finally customs and enforcement. Enforcement is critical, ladies and gentlemen. It is a bill I am so thrilled and honored to have had the opportunity to introduce here in the House. This is a key bill as part of trade. Far too long, we haven't had as good of enforcement, quite frankly, as we need to have, and I am committed to that. Now, let me just mention one thing--trade deficits, trade surpluses. We have 20 countries that we have agreements with, trade agreements with, 20 of them. Two of them happen to be on our borders, Mexico and Canada. You take out energy that we import from them--and I would rather import it from them than anywhere else in the world--we have a trade surplus with those 20 countries, a surplus in manufacturing. My dad was in manufacturing. I already told you before--and Mr. Levin has heard this 1,000 times, I think; he is probably tired of hearing it--my dad lost his job of 25 years, and I lost my health care as a kid in the household, along with my sisters, long before NAFTA. Globalization began occurring, as Dr. Boustany said, after World War II. We can either engage or disengage. When we disengage, we lose. When America engages, we win. We can outwork anybody. What trade agreements do actually is break down barriers so we can compete, and then we have to have the enforcement piece. Ladies and gentlemen, that is what this is about. It is about breaking down barriers. My State of Ohio has been devastated by globalization. My dad's job before NAFTA was devastated by globalization. Forty-eight countries in Asia have had trade agreements with each other. For the last 10 years, we are party to two. The world is passing us by. We are being left behind. We can compete if we break down barriers. That is what we need to do today. Trade assistance--insert Congress into the President's ability to negotiate because he already has that ability. This doesn't change that. This inserts us. This inserts slow track. With that agreement, whatever that agreement is, in Asia, in Europe, 60 days in public before the President can sign it, 60 days. I wish I had 6 hours--6 hours--to review the Affordable Care Act before I had to vote on it. This is 60 days where Members will have an ability to look at what was negotiated. If we don't like it, we will vote it down. We have the constitutional authority to do that. This is about jobs. Vote all three bills ``yes.''

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to add my congratulations to the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, Mr. Ryan, for the bipartisan nature of the work on this bill. Without his leadership, it wouldn't have happened. I also appreciate the leadership of the ranking member of the Trade Subcommittee, Mr. Rangel, who has been an advocate for this for a long, long time; Ranking Member Levin; the gentleman from Washington State, as it has been pointed out, and his leadership as well; the gentlewoman from California; Chairman Royce from California; as well as Mr. Young of Indiana, who has been a strong advocate of getting this done, and getting this done quickly, as the chairman said. The entire process of developing a long-term extension and enhancement of AGOA reflects the strong bipartisan commitment that has always surrounded this issue and the bipartisan commitment of our chairman. AGOA has been a clear success of economic development and in national security terms as well. In the last 15 years since it was enacted, it has become the cornerstone of our relationship with Africa. Since AGOA was enacted, trade has tripled and investment has grown almost sixfold. By one estimate, AGOA supports well over a million direct and indirect jobs in sub-Saharan Africa and about 100,000 jobs in the United States of America. We know the countries that participate in AGOA have higher average incomes per person and higher good governance scores, including on the rule of law and political stability criteria, than sub-Saharan African countries that do not participate in the program. The bill we are considering today will extend AGOA for 10 years, the longest extension that Congress has ever considered for this program. It also strengthens the program by simplifying certain rules of origin, encouraging greater regional integration, building additional flexibility, improving certainty and predictability, and expanding transparency and participation in the AGOA review process. For all its successes, we have also heard concerns about conditions in sub-Saharan Africa, including very significant concerns in South Africa, on issues that affect the agriculture industry, like in my State, poultry and pork. We have worked to correct that. The bill provides new mechanisms for addressing these concerns, including a petition process and an out-of-cycle review. The bill also renews the General System of Preferences program through 2017 and provides retroactive relief to eligible products that were imported during the GSP's lapse. GSP promotes economic development by providing duty-free treatment for approximately 5,000 nonsensitive products from 126 developing countries. Employers in my district use this so they can grow their business and create more American jobs. Finally, Mr. Speaker, the bill ensures that Haiti will continue to benefit from the HELP and HOPE programs by extending those preferences through 2025. This will encourage continued investment in Haiti and support its economic development and recovery efforts. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership. Texas is lucky to have him. Ladies and gentlemen, today and tomorrow, we are not voting on a trade agreement. We are not voting on a trade agreement. In fact, we are voting on a bill called TPA, which is this. It is public. We can all read it. Our constituents can read it. We are not voting on anything today or tomorrow that we can't read, that is secret. A lot of confusion out there. Here is what TPA is, and you have heard it before. It is a process. It is a process where Congress inserts itself to what the executive branch already can do, which is negotiate a trade agreement. But it is a process that, quite frankly, empowers the Congress. It tells the President, as the lead negotiator, this is what we would like him to do, and we are going to hold our authority, and we are going to say whatever the President negotiates, we are going to either approve it or not. But you know what? By passing TPA, we are going to require that, whatever is negotiated, the public is given 60 days to review, which doesn't have to be done unless TPA is passed. Mr. Chairman, I didn't have 6 hours to review ObamaCare--not 6 hours. My constituents will have 60 days before the President can sign any deal he negotiates. That is what TPA does. It inserts Congress. It inserts the American people into any trade agreement the President-- this one or the next--negotiates. It empowers the people to review that process, to review that agreement--no secrecy. This is what we are voting on tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen, TPA. Please go to congress.gov to look at it. Another day, maybe tomorrow, we will talk a little bit about what trade has done, not done, what it has done for American consumers and American employees and American businesses.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize our American manufacturers. As we work to expand American manufacturing by knocking down barriers so American exporters can sell their products all over the world while creating jobs here at home--manufacturers are taking a beating. Not because jobs are disappearing--they aren't--but because so many people, including members of this Chamber, are spreading outright lies about the impact of American trade agreements. One company with plants in my home state of Ohio continues to be cited as a company that's virtually shuttered their American plants because of NAFTA. It's astounding because it's not true. Twenty-two thousand Whirlpool workers, including 15,000 manufacturing employees-- makers of iconic brands like Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, and Gladiator--are likely shocked to hear these words because not only are they headquartered in Michigan, more than 80 percent of Whirlpool's products sold in the United States are made in the United States. I recently heard one opponent of trade say on this Floor that Maytag washers are being imported from Mexico. In reality Maytag builds almost all of their washers sold in the U.S. right in my home state of Ohio. They come from Ohio communities like Clyde, Marion, Greenville, Ottawa, and Findlay, not to mention from Whirlpool plants in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Iowa. It's not just Whirlpool employees who benefit; the company has 4,900 direct and indirect U.S. suppliers, supporting even more American jobs. Not only does Whirlpool maintain a strong U.S. manufacturing presence, they've actively been reshoring--bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. Shortly after acquiring and restructuring Maytag 10 years ago, Whirlpool began repatriating laundry manufacturing from Germany and Mexico to their Clyde, Ohio plant--the world's largest laundry facility. Since then, they also have brought back hand mixer manufacturing from China and commercial laundry production from Mexico, creating approximately 500 new jobs in the process, not to mention increasing U.S. exports. Don't believe the hyperbole . . . believe the numbers. One in five jobs in Ohio depends on trade. Trade-related jobs pay 18 percent more than non-trade jobs. With new trade agreements, barriers will be removed so Whirlpool and other manufacturers have the opportunity to sell their American-made products overseas. Let's spread the truth . . . trade supports American jobs and increased trade will build a healthier American economy.

Mr. TIBERI

Mr. TIBERI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize our American manufacturers. As we work to knock down trade barriers--barriers abroad--so American exporters can sell their products overseas, many opponents of free trade are spreading outright lies: lies about the impact of American trade agreements on American manufacturers. Whirlpool is a great example, an example that continues to be cited as an American company that has virtually shut down its plants in America because of trade. It is astounding because it is not true. There are 22,000 American Whirlpool workers. They are makers of iconic brands like Whirlpool, Maytag, and KitchenAid. More than 80 percent of Whirlpool products sold in the United States are made in the United States. Their products come from Ohio communities like Clyde, Marion, Greenville, Ottawa, and Findlay, Ohio, not to mention Whirlpool plants in other States. Believe the numbers, Mr. Speaker. One in every five jobs in Ohio depends on trade. With new trade agreements, barriers abroad will be removed so Whirlpool and other manufacturers have the opportunity to sell their American-made products overseas. Let's spread the truth: trade supports American jobs, and increased trade will build a healthy American economy.