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September 25, 2002

Mr. Milton E. Jenkins
612 Court Street, #1
Sioux City, Iowa 51101

Dear Mr. Jenkins:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me. As your Senator, it's important for me to hear from you.

I appreciate hearing your thoughts regarding efforts to extend trade promotion authority to the President. Trade Promotion authority, or "fast track," is the process by which Congress delegates to the President, under very narrow parameters, its constitutional authority to negotiate trade agreements with other nations. This is necessary because it would be impossible for 535 members of Congress to negotiate agreements.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that no agreement is ever finalized until Congress passes it as law. Therefore, Congress retains the prerogative to reject trade agreements negotiated by the president. No trade agreement modifying U.S. law has ever been implemented without the approval of Congress.

I support granting the President negotiating authority. Congress has repeatedly given presidents authority to negotiate trade agreements since the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in the 1930s. It has been used by Republican and Democratic presidents since that time.

However, the latest renewal of this authority expired in 1994. Since then, the United States has relinquished its leadership role on international trade. About 130 free trade agreements have been negotiated globally, and the United States is a party to only 3 of them.

On December 6, 2001, the House of Representatives passed legislation to renew the Presidents' trade promotion authority. This legislation requires the United States Trade Representative to consult closely with Congress during trade negotiations. If the President fails or refuses to notify or consult with Congress, this legislation authorizes both Houses of Congress to adopt a procedural disapproval resolution denying trade authorities to the President.

I am pleased to inform you that the House and Senate were able to come to an agreement on a Conference Report which reconciled the differences between the House and Senate version of the bills. The Conference Report passed the House of Representatives on July 27 by a vote of 215 to 212, and passed the Senate on August 1 by a vote of 64 to 34. President Bush signed the bill into law on August 6, 2002.

Trade benefits American workers, businesses and consumers. In fact, Iowa sold more than #3.3 billion worth of exports to more than 150 foreign markets last year. The number of Iowa companies exporting increased 83 percent from 1992 to 1998, and more than 75 percent of the 2,732 Iowa companies that export are small-and medium-sized businesses. In 1999, Iowa ranked second nationwide in agricultural exports, with an estimated $3.2 billion in exported commodities an value-added agricultural products.

Negotiating authority is necessary to making sure that our trade negotiators are credible at the negotiating table. We must make sure our negotiators have as much credibility as possible, so they can bring back the best deal possible in trade negotiations. In fact, major trade negotiations are happening right now. Our negotiators are tryi8ng hard to gain market-opening concessions from more than 140 other nations, many of which want to protect their markets from America's efficient farmers and agricultural producers.

I also believe that increased trade, by itself, is a good way to influence other countries. Countries that increase their standard of living, often through increased trade, have the ability to improve their labor and environment standards. Many poor countries do not have the tools that the United States ahs to improve these standards. Rather than foreign aid, trade can be a better way to help give them the necessary tools to help themselves.

Finally, increased trade has allowed the United States to "export" our ideals of liberty and democracy around the globe. Economic liberty is often a necessary first step to political liberty and democratization.

Thank you again for writing me about your interest in trade. I assure you that I will continue to work to promote both United States leadership in international policy, and the sale of U.S. good and services abroad.

Please keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

United States Senator