United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act

Mr. President, in a moment I am going to put forward a unanimous consent request to pass a trade bill cosponsored by all the Democrats and Republicans on the relevant committee in the other body-- the Ways and Means Committee--and was ultimately passed by the other body--the House--by voice vote. So there was no opposition in the other body. In fact, it was put forward by the Republican Chair Jason Smith and the Democratic Ranking Member Richard Neal, as well as Senator Crapo and myself over here.

I think it would be fair to say that this kind of unanimity over in the House, where sometimes they can't agree to order a 7-Up, is pretty amazing--that they passed a trade bill unanimously.

Before I make the UC request on this bipartisan, bicameral bill called the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation, I am just going to talk briefly about why the bill is so important.

The basic proposition is this: First and foremost, the U.S. Congress fully supports deepening our trading relationship with Taiwan and wants to ensure the recent agreement covering trade facilitation, anti- corruption, and small business is durable and legally sound. Not only is Taiwan a critical market for U.S. exporters, it is also a democracy that shares our values and has strong ties with Oregonians and Americans across the land.

Next, this body wants to be clear that trade and trade agreements are within the constitutional authority of the Congress. One of the ways the Senate demonstrates this is by approving trade agreements just like this one.

Finally, this bill requires greater transparency and consultation, as well as public review, for future Taiwan trade agreements. These ideas can sound a little abstract, so I will put it in real-world terms.

In a few hours, I am heading to rural Oregon to meet with my constituents and hold town hall meetings. Farmers and ranchers in Grant, Harney, and Malheur counties care a lot about trade. They want new markets to sell wheat and potatoes and the like.

I am never going to tell a farmer in Ontario or La Grande that they don't deserve the right to read a trade agreement and understand how it affects them before it is signed and wrapped up.

Trade agreements that affect millions of Americans can't be done in the dark. Congress and the American people need to know what is in these deals and how they benefit American interests.

I look forward to working with the USTR as it negotiates the bigger ticket items with Taiwan--issues like digital trade, labor, environment, and agriculture, as outlined in the negotiating mandate. Future agreements need to bulldoze barriers to trade for Oregon exporters, including red tape like labeling rules and technical standards that make it hard for exporters to sell their goods. Involving Congress and the public is going to help the administration break down these barriers.

This is a proposal that brings both sides together. As I said, every Member of the Ways and Means Committee--every Democrat, every Republican--is on board. So the glide path to passage here was no accident. My colleagues, Ranking Member Crapo, as well as Chair Smith and Ranking Member Neal worked with me to hammer out a bill that could receive that kind of attention.

My colleagues are eager to get back home, so here's the bottom line: Passing the Taiwan trade agreement bill is a can't-miss opportunity for the Senate to support Taiwan, clarify Congress's role in trade, and call for more transparency and consultation.

In a moment, I am going to make a unanimous consent request.

In fact, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record my good friend from Idaho Senator Crapo's statement.

I am going to yield now to Chairman Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, because he and I work very closely together on all of these kinds of issues, on the Foreign Relations Committee and the Finance Committee, and I have the good fortune of having Senator Menendez, essentially, sit next to me in the Finance Committee.

So we are going to be working together. I am going to make the unanimous consent request in a minute. But I want to yield to Chairman Menendez.

Thank you for the fact that we are working together today. We have got lots to do in the future and we are going to work together.

I yield to my colleague.

Mr. President, before I make my unanimous consent request, I just want to reiterate that Senator Menendez and I are going to be working together on these issues. He made this point with respect to taxes, and we are going to be able to find common ground, I believe, with Senator Crapo, who can't be here today but who is very, very strongly in support of this effort.

Let me repeat that, colleagues. Senator Crapo, the ranking member on the Finance Committee, is very strong for this effort.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4004, which was received from the House and is at the desk. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I will be brief because I know my colleagues want to go to the other body.

I think this is very unfortunate. This is an extraordinary opportunity for our country, and this is a great opportunity for the world.

The fact is that there has been an extensive review of this particular agreement. The administration talked to a number of Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. This legislation went through the House of Representatives unanimously, and that was after every member of the relevant committee--the House Ways and Means Committee-- cosponsored the legislation. They didn't just vote for it; they cosponsored it.

I think it is very unfortunate for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to object. The chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Smith, the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Neal, and the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, Senator Crapo--all of us--have been working for months now on this particular proposal, and I think it is very unfortunate that our colleague from Arkansas has decided to object. It is his right, but I think it is very unfortunate for our country because this could have been a very, very special day with the passage of this.

We are going to be back here, working together, as you have heard-- Chairman Menendez from the Foreign Relations Committee and I and Senator Crapo. We are going to work together with every Member of this body to get this very important trade initiative enacted into law.

Mr. President, Indiana was settled by men and women who left the safety of their homes, they headed westward, and they crossed the Appalachian Mountains into the wilderness and the unknown. They were willing to endure hardship, to risk danger in search of a better tomorrow, to clear a path for others to follow. They were pioneers. But, long after our State was settled and Indiana's population drifted up from the banks of the Ohio River toward Lake Michigan, Hoosiers never stopped looking at the frontier. Only, they cast their gaze away from the west and toward the sky.

In the fall of 1959, 15,000 people gathered in the southern Indiana town of Mitchell--population 3,500 at the time. Some lined the streets. Others sat on rooftops or watched through windows. They hadn't come to Mitchell's annual Persimmon Festival for the beauty pageant nor did they come for the pudding contest or the classic car run. No. They were there to see the convertible at the head of the festival's parade as it drove down Mitchell's Main Street. Seated inside that convertible was one of their own, a local boy. They knew him from the house on Baker Street. Maybe they knew him from Mitchell High or from the First Baptist Church. History knows him as the second American to travel to space and the first man to go there twice.

So I am proud to have the privilege to deliver these remarks in front of the Presiding Officer, who has also been to space. His name was Lt. Col. Virgil Ivan ``Gus'' Grissom. There he is--a great Hoosier, a great American.

I ask all who may be watching to study his portrait--that flat-top haircut, the serious expression. That was Gus Grissom. They should look at old photos of the White House press events. It is uncanny. He is the odd astronaut out, the one who looks like he would rather not be there. You see, the images don't lie. He was taciturn, tough-minded, and hard- driving.

NASA's head physician described him as ``confident but not conceited.'' He was a ``stern competitor but a good teammate, a frank but carefree speaker.''

He had little use for publicity or even the press. He only went to White House events because Betty, his wife, and their boys wanted to. Gus Grissom wasn't a celebrity; he was a pilot and an engineer. He was more comfortable racing fellow Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard in his souped-up Corvette around Cape Kennedy. He was a regular guy. But the race that Gus Grissom truly cared about was the one to the stars. He was determined--determined--to beat Russia there.

``I think we ought to declare an out-and-out race with the Russians to put the first man in space,'' Grissom once stated.

You see, this Hoosier didn't mince words. He saw the space race as an important global competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, between freedom and communism. And the prize was more than just a flag that was planted on the Moon. It meant prestige and pride, yes, but also technological superiority and the national security and economic benefits that went with it. America won that race in part because of Gus Grissom, and our Nation reaped incredible benefits because of his sacrifice.

On July 21, 1961--almost 2 years after he was at the center of the Persimmon Festival in Mitchell--Grissom splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, 260 nautical miles south of Cape Canaveral. He had just ridden the Mercury-Redstone 4 above the Earth and back down. Appropriately, Grissom nicknamed the ship Liberty Bell 7--a tribute, of course, to the bell that rang after the reading of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Regardless of what you have read in novels or seen in movies, Grissom's flight was flawless. The vessel sank after its hatch blew-- the result of a poor design and electrostatic discharge, not astronaut error.

Four years later, on March 23, 1965, friends and former classmates gathered at the First Baptist Church back in Mitchell. Nearly every business installed a television so their customers and employees could watch Grissom return to space. This was a different journey, though. The Mercury ships boosted astronauts into space and retro-rocketed them back to Earth. This new craft, Gemini, gave them a degree of control and added maneuverability--technological leaps that anticipated manned flights to the Moon.

Grissom, along with pilot John Young, did not only skillfully guide Gemini 3 as it orbited the Earth three times, he virtually designed the ship. Stung by the ``hatch crap'' on Liberty Bell 7, as he called it, Grissom securitized and directed the assembly of the new spacecraft. Their construction so closely followed his vision that other astronauts nicknamed the Gemini the ``Gusmobile.'' The cockpit and seat were even configured to his 5'7'' frame.

Grissom was next given command of the Apollo program's first mission, with its goal of realizing President Kennedy's charge of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s. When the Apollo Lunar Module landed at Tranquility Base in 1969, Grissom was not aboard. He had perished 2 years prior in a launch pad fire aboard Apollo 1 during testing. The tragedy, though, inspired NASA to improve the construction and, ultimately, the safety of the Apollo crafts, leading to the Moon landing.

Grissom said:

The conquest of space is worth the risk of human life.

The race to the stars ended in America's favor because he gave his.

Now, Grissom may not have been aboard Apollo 11 when it reached the Moon, but it never would have gotten there without him.

At the onset of that journey and the most daunting journeys Americans have embarked on, there has been skepticism, and there have been questions of purpose and value. It never stopped the pioneers, the doers and dreamers, and Americans like Gus Grissom from making the voyage and making our country better.

Back in the fall of 1959, during the Persimmon Festival, Mayor Roy Ira handed Grissom a plaque and gave him a simple tribute:

Mitchell is proud of Grissom. I urge our youth to take note

of Virgil's example.

Six decades later, we are still proud of him, and we should all still follow his example and always press on toward the next frontier, wherever it may be.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join my Republican and Democratic colleagues in both the House and the Senate in this effort to demonstrate our commitment to the people of Taiwan and to affirm Congress' constitutional authority on trade.

Every Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee has cosponsored this bill, and just last week, this legislation passed out of the Ways and Means Committee unanimously. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Before turning to the substance of the bill today, I remind my colleagues that the House Democrats improved the USMCA. Congress improved both the substance of the trade agreement, especially on matters related to labor, environment, and enforcement, and also the process.

Our commitment to building a modern, proworker deal led to a trade agreement that was endorsed by labor, the business community, and, most importantly, the American people.

Congress' fierce leadership on the USMCA brought about an agreement that reflects the priorities of House Democrats. For instance, we fought hard to establish new structure for aggressive enforcement of the USMCA and to back it up with funding for enforcement actions.

USMCA now stands as a powerful beacon for what is possible when it comes to durable, enforceable trade agreements. I credit that to the work and consensus building of Congress. It is the collaboration between Congress and the executive branch that allows trade policy to live up to its fullest potential and, in this critical moment, that cannot be forgotten. This brings us to the legislation before us today, the Taiwan Implementation Act.

This is a matter of standing up for the prerogatives of the Ways and Means Committee. Congress is charged with trade responsibilities, and trade falls to the Ways and Means Committee. I believe that you get better outcomes when Congress is included in the trade negotiations, and I believe that going forward making sure Congress is fully included is not only sensible but will lead to a better outcome.

In short, Congress, and within Congress the Ways and Means Committee, oversees trade policy. We should continue to defend that position.

I will now turn to our strong support for the people of Taiwan. Congressional Democrats are unwavering in their support for the people of Taiwan, a people who have built a robust and thriving democracy that serves as a beacon in the region. As Taiwan faces incredible pressure from its authoritarian neighbor, it is vital that this institution stand and support our Democratic partner.

Strengthening bilateral trade relations with Taiwan also strengthens our shared determination to preserve democracy at home and abroad. As we see growing aggression by certain countries toward Democratic values and troubling erosions of the rule of law, it is critical that American trade policy reflect our global commitment to promoting democracy and peace.

The Biden administration has reflected this commitment by prioritizing America's economic and trade relationship with Taiwan, a priority undoubtedly shared by Congress.

The Taiwan Implementation Act demonstrates Congress' strong support for strengthening our bilateral trade relationship with Taiwan and our commitment to ensure trade agreements are durable.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate foreign commerce. This legislation approves what the administration has negotiated with Taiwan and sets forth strong consultation and transparency requirements that ensure future trade agreements with Taiwan carry the will of the American people behind them.

Trade impacts every part of people's lives; from the food we eat, to the clothes we buy, to the cars we drive. It is critical that Congress act to support this first trade agreement with Taiwan and ensure that future trade agreements are subject to a congressional approval process. The Ways and Means Committee is an important gatekeeper of our trade priorities and the American people expect us to lead on these matters.

The Taiwan Implementation Act affirms our authority to do just that, while underscoring our shared commitment to furthering the deep, economic, and people-to-people ties America enjoys with Taiwan.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I emphasize this bicameral, bipartisan legislation affirms Congress' constitutional authority on trade and will not only support Taiwan's democracy but strengthen our bilateral trade relations.

I thank my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, on the Ways and Means Committee for supporting this legislation. I thank Senator Wyden and Senator Crapo for working with the committee on this bill. The people of Taiwan have built a robust, thriving democracy, and both the Biden administration and Congress have recognized that deepening our economic connection is a top priority.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, in a moment, I am going to put forward a unanimous consent request to pass an important bill exercising Congress's constitutional authority and approving the first modern agreement regulating trade between the United States and Taiwan.

The bill was cosponsored by all 48 Democrats and Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee and was ultimately passed in the House of Representatives by a voice vote. It was originally put forward by Ways and Means Committee Chair Smith and Ranking Member Neal, as well as Senator Crapo and myself as chair and ranking member of the Finance Committee.

Before I make this unanimous consent request on the bipartisan, bicameral bill called the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st- Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act, I want to highlight, for just a couple of minutes, why this bill is so important.

First, the reason behind this proposal, first and foremost, is that the U.S. Congress fully supports deepening our trade relationship with Taiwan and wants to ensure that the recent agreement covering trade facilitation, anti-corruption, and small business is legally sound and durable.

Not only is Taiwan a critical market for U.S. exporters, it is a democracy that shares our values and has strong ties with Oregonians and Americans across the land.

Next, this body wants to be clear that trade agreements are within the constitutional authority of the Congress. One of the ways the Senate demonstrates that is by approving trade agreements like this one.

Finally, the legislation requires greater transparency and consultation, as well as public review for future Taiwan trade agreements. Our workers, our farmers, and our businesses deserve the opportunity to read a trade agreement and understand how it affects them before it is signed by a government official and declared the law of the land. Trade agreements that affect millions of Americans can't be done in the dark. Congress and the American people need to know what is in these agreements and how they benefit American interests.

I look forward to working with the USTR, our point person for trade, to negotiate the bigger-ticket items with Taiwan--issues like digital trade, labor, environment, and agriculture, as outlined in the negotiating mandate. Future agreements need to bulldoze barriers to trade for Oregon exporters and American businesses everywhere, including by cutting red tape like labeling rules and making sure that Taiwan's technical standards don't make it tough for exporters to sell their goods. Involving Congress and the public is going to help the administration identify issues and hold them accountable for breaking down barriers.

This is a proposal that brings both sides together. The Taiwan trade agreement approval bill, as I indicated, passed unanimously in the other body. This trade agreement legislation is a can't-miss opportunity for the U.S. Senate to support Taiwan, clarify Congress's role in trade, and call for more transparency and consultation in future agreements.

Moreover, it needs to be done now. Taiwan is expecting to pass their implementing bill in the next few weeks. It is imperative that we move our bill before the administration moves forward with what is called ``entry into force'' to ensure that the United States gets what it has bargained for.

Let me close by saying that we especially look forward in the future to working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The chairman of the committee, Senator Menendez, and I have been talking about ways to recognize the intersection between foreign relations and global economics. There are a whole host of issues--whether it is supply chains, digital trade, the environment, and the like--where we have an opportunity to really recognize that, in this century, what we have to do is break down barriers. We have to find a way to have a unifying strategy for this country, and that means coming together around foreign relations and global economics. That is what Chairman Menendez and I talked about this evening and in the past, and I look forward to working with all of our colleagues on that.

So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4004, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4004) to approve and implement the Agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States regarding Trade between the United States of America and Taiwan, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Congress is sending a bipartisan message to President Biden today that we will not sit idly by as the administration ignores our constitutional role in developing U.S. trade policy.

The relationship between the United States and Taiwan is vital to U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific. This initial trade agreement negotiated by the Biden administration is a good step. It builds on successful provisions that were included in the USMCA that was negotiated by President Trump, and it shows the world that the Chinese Communist Party will not intimidate the United States from deepening our relationship with Taiwan.

While Congress supports the early agreement that came from these negotiations, we will not stand by passively as the Biden administration, or any administration, attempts to bind the United States in a trade agreement without approval from Congress. Congress must be in the driver's seat on trade policy, not a passenger along for the ride.

Trade impacts every American. When done right, trade can boost small businesses, help American workers, and open up new markets for American farmers. Bad trade policy, on the other hand, can kill American jobs and give other nations unfair advantages over U.S. manufacturers, workers, and agriculture.

Every American deserves a voice in the outcome of these negotiations that impact their lives so much, which is why Congress, as their voice in Washington, must be involved in the development and approval of these agreements.

The Taiwan trade bill before us today restores congressional authority on

trade policy. It celebrates this agreement, but it also makes it clear that it cannot take effect unless this legislation is signed into law. It forces the administration to consult with Congress in a meaningful way moving forward, something that has not occurred to date. It requires any future agreements with Taiwan to be subject to a vote in Congress.

Without a vote on trade agreements, Congress can be ignored. This will ensure trade agreements are in the best interest of American workers, families, farmers, and small businesses. This bill has broad bipartisan support in both the House and in the Senate. Democrats and Republicans agree that U.S. trade policy must come through Congress, and the President will no longer be allowed to sidestep our constitutional authority.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up for the voice of the American people and vote to pass this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

The legislation before us today is an important first step in pushing back against executive overreach on trade. It also reinforces our support for a stronger relationship with our close partner, Taiwan.

I appreciate that my colleagues across the aisle agree that protecting Congress' constitutional powers is vital and that allowing any administration to continue unchecked would only dilute the voices of millions of Americans in Washington and embolden the executive branch to step on more of our Article I powers.

I am especially appreciative of the strong partnership in this effort of Ranking Member Neal in the House and Senators Wyden and Crapo in the Senate.

U.S. trade policy must first and foremost protect American workers, farmers, families, and small businesses. We have a duty today to ensure the American people maintain a say in what those policies look like.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of the House to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.